Energy Capital Podcast The Power of Microgrids with Jana Gerber
Texas is number one in the United States for many energy-related achievements: wind and solar generation, oil and gas production. But Texas is also the number one state for weather related outages, with nearly 50% more outages over the last 25 years than California. Just within the last four years Texans experienced Winter Storm Uri (2021), an ice storm in Central Texas (2023), and a derecho and Hurricane Beryl (2024). But the frequency and duration of power outages can be managed and reduced through many strategies.
One of the quickest and most effective ways to lessen the impact of outages is to have widespread onsite backup power, also called microgrids: 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.
My guest this week is Jana Gerber, President of Microgrid North America at Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric is a massive company with over 150,000 employees. Odds are, you’ve got one of their products in your home, but you probably don’t even know it. They make all sorts of electrical equipment and they are a leader in microgrids.
Jana has been with Schneider for 20 years and understands the business of backup power as well as anyone out there. During the interview, Jana explained how Schneider’s microgrids work, how the role of the consumer on the grid is evolving away from merely being passive recipient. We talked about the financing methods to get these backup power projects off the ground, challenges in bringing microgrids to scale, the value of resilience, and much more.
I hope you enjoy this interview. As always, please like, share, and leave a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for being a listener.
Timestamps
0:18 - About Schneider Electric and Jana’s background
2:14 - What is a microgrid?
6:16 - Where Schneider has deployed and the mix of technologies used for their microgrids
11:11 - State of the microgrid market in Texas
13:35 - What is a prosumer
15:00 - The role of EVs in microgrids
17:02 - Schneider Home
20:23 - How significant are distributed resource solutions to Schneider’s business now and moving forward
22:04 - Financing options
26:16 - The challenge of accounting for and valuing resilience
30:06 - Small commercial enterprises and microgrids; reducing costs through standardization
33:39 - Additional options for tax credits and financing
36:13 - Financing options and tax credits for the residential sector
38:03 - Standardization, islanding, and interconnection
42:46 - The role of microgrids in managing load growth
45:33 - Fuel cells
46:42 - Upcoming microgrid conference in Texas
Show Notes
Microgrid Knowledge Conference, Dallas, April 15-17, 2025
Special Episode with the Chairman of the Texas PUC, Thomas Gleeson (includes discussion of funding for microgrids at critical facilities)
LoanSTAR Revolving Loan Program
Home energy tax credits (including the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit and Residential Clean Energy Credit)