In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, after millions of Houstonians lost power and at least 36 people died, many of them because they didn’t have AC in the heat following the storm, Texans were once again left with many of the same questions we’ve been asking for the past decade. How do we make sure that the power stays on when a storm hits or disaster strikes? How can our state, rich in all its energy resources, have its electric grid so badly pummeled by a Category 1 storm? When we are faced with the next storm, hurricane, or cold snap, how will we make sure things are different? How can we keep critical facilities powered, vulnerable residents safe, and generally ensure a reliable and resilient grid? 

For CenterPoint, the utility serving most of the Houston area, the response so far has been a plan to purchase additional generators. This approach has been met with considerable skepticism, given that CenterPoint had already spent $800 million on generators that proved unusable during Beryl — a cost that continues to be borne by their customers.

However, there are alternative solutions that can enhance community resilience without breaking the bank. One of the most promising is microgrids. Microgrids consist of interconnected resources like solar panels, gas generators, and batteries that connect directly to homes, facilities, and other sites, allowing them to operate independently from the main grid. Microgrids have been deployed across the state, including in Houston, and customers with microgrids during Beryl had drastically different experiences than others in the city and the region.

To learn more about microgrids, and understand how they can help save lives and maintain stability in future storms, I spoke to Allan Schurr, the COO of Enchanted Rock, which has been deploying microgrids for almost 20 years. 100% of Enchanted Rock’s microgrids that were tasked with providing power during the Beryl aftermath were able to do so, including their microgrids at H-E-B stores and distribution centers, which helped ensure many Texans had access to air conditioning, food, and supplies. 

Allan and I dug in how Enchanted Rock’s microgrids work and what types of customers are currently served by them. We talked about how microgrids can and should be deployed at nursing homes, hospitals and other critical facilities; why the company chose to switch to natural gas generators instead of diesel fuel; the impact of state legislation on microgrid deployment; and how utilities can make it easier for all types of customers to get microgrids. 

This one is part of a larger series I am doing on the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl focused on microgrids. In the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing short episodes (like this one) interviewing folks working on solar microgrids and storage, understanding the impact of natural disasters on marginalized communities, the importance of DERs, and more.

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Timestamps

3:48 - How Enchanted Rock got started

6:14 - What is a microgrid? How does it work?

9:12 - Enchanted Rock’s partnership with H-E-B and benefits to the community

12:14 - Nursing homes

13:07 - Other types of clients that benefit from microgrids

14:44 -Generators vs microgrid and Texas Energy Fund legislation for microgrids

22:04 - Benefits of microgrids to the overall grid; microgrids as part of Virtual Power Plants

26:03 - Winter Storm Uri and Enchanted Rock

28:45 - Accessing gas for microgrids during severe winter weather or storms

31:15 - Can you have resilience without microgrids?

33:53 - How can utilities make it easier for customers to get microgrids

35:42 - Enchanted Rock’s Bridge-to-Grid program and microgrids at data centers

Show Notes

Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock’s Bridge-to-Grid program

What’s in a name? Preparing for long-duration outages from “anonymous” storms by Allan Schurr

Houston’s post-Beryl outages highlight benefits of distributed energy from Canary Media

After Hurricane Beryl, Microgrid-Equipped Grocery Stores and Homes Weathered Outages for More Than a Week in Houston from Microgrid Knowledge

CenterPoint spent $800M on mobile generators. Where are they post-Hurricane Beryl? - from the Houston Chronicle

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