Should The Government Give Every House A Battery?
It is absurd to think that the federal or state governments would give every house in America a battery to protect from large-scale electric grid outages. Nevertheless, the private sector believes it is a good idea. Green Mountain Power in Vermont has asked regulators if it can buy batteries to put in people’s homes.
According to The New York Times, “Green Mountain Power proposed buying batteries, burying power lines and strengthening overhead cables in a filing with state regulators.” While the solution is new, the problems that have triggered it are not. Exposed overhead electric cables, particularly those supported by wood poles, pose a risk, especially in drought and high wind areas. However, any plan to take these down and bury them is extremely costly.
Why Vermont? Part of the analysis that led to the request is due to the small size of the state geographically and the fact that harsh winter storms frequently cause outages. The batteries are an elegant solution.
The Vermont plan may face insurmountable hurdles, although they are not related directly to the battery plan. Burying lines can be extremely expensive. In California, PG&E proposed that it bury 10,000 miles of lines. Some of its lines have caused at least one major wildfire. However, the California Public Utilities Commission may nix the plan as too expensive. According to The Wall Street Journal, “PG&E’s spending plan, all of which would be paid for by customers, is part of a larger proposal by the company that would add, on average, a total of $44.26 to residential bills each month over the four-year period.” The regulators say that it is too much of a burden on customers.
The idea of giving out batteries in and beyond Vermont may be clever at first and could partially solve the problem of exposed lines running across wood poles. However, a regulator could say that any utility that wants these installations as part of a plan will find that bureaucracy trumps ingenuity.
