Road to NanoGrid: Week 9 - A new player in the old ball game ...

Green energy enthusiasts are quick to point the finger at utilities, citing the grid’s inability to respond to price signals in real time (by not being able to throttle nuclear and coal energy, for example) as being the root of the problem. Though they are not wrong, it is important to remain objective in order to find the best solution. This requires seeing the issue from the utilities perspective as well.

Today, we are more reliant on energy than ever. Above all, the grid must be stable and reliable. Renewables, by their inherent must-take nature, must be integrated in a system with other dispatchable energy sources while stillachieving the predictability, reliability, security and stability that the gridhas provided for over a century.

“When the laws of economics and the laws of physics collide, physics always wins.”