The following is an excerpt from an Energy Solutions Forum Industry Brief.

In an increasingly technology-dependent society with growing energy needs as we seek a higher quality of life, disturbances in electricity supply and quality can have severe implications daily. They can cause significant losses of information, efficiency and productivity as interruptions crash computers and the critical services reliant upon them, such as life support systems, or cause automated equipment to shut down completely.

Both power supply and quality play an important role for US businesses and government agencies. Power outages cost the US approximately $104-$164 billion annually, half of which are specifically felt by the industrial sector and digital economy. Even brief outages can damage equipment or idle labor, which wastes critical resources, and losses can have further effects for downstream firms.

Losses from outages are increasing over time due to congestion and a lack of investment in transmission infrastructure. In the second half of the 1990s, there were 41% more outages than in the first half affecting 50,000 or more consumers. Further, U.S. power outages affecting 50,000 or more customers rose from 197 to 312 from the 2001-2005 period to the 2006 to May 2010 period.ii There is a clear need for a stronger electrical grid. Microgrids offer substantial resiliency and cost-savings benefits. Governments, businesses, and educational institutions are exploring microgrid technology as a potential avenue to securing a more reliable energy future.

Key Takeaways:

• The market for microgrids is moving towards full-scale commercialization.
• North America represents the largest share of global microgrid capacity.
• Microgrids offer not only reliability and security benefits, but tremendous revenue generation potential as well.

You can read the rest of the brief here.

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