TRENTON — Many Mainers are making the change to solar power, however can the present electrical infrastructure help residential solar panels on a big scale?
Apparently not, as one resident of Trenton found after making use of to have solar panels put in at his home and interconnected to the grid.
Matt Quinn of Trenton was advised by Versant Power that he can not interconnect solar panels at his home to the prevailing power grid as a result of the capability for electrical energy being despatched again to the grid from houses in his space has been reached.
“Because Versant’s grid in our particular area is already maxed out with solar consumers sending power back, they denied our application,” Quinn wrote in an electronic mail to The American. “They [Versant] would need to upgrade their circuits in our area, and Versant considers this beyond the scope of a ‘minor upgrade.’”
Quinn is anxious that because the capability of the power grid is reached, there will likely be a cap on residents who’re allowed to make use of solar power in areas serviced by Versant. Without infrastructure upgrades, different residents might discover themselves in the same scenario.
“Without Versant performing upgrades, we will soon reach a maximum amount of residents who can have rooftop solar,” Quinn wrote.
Currently, the power grid that Quinn is linked to would want main upgrades to reinforce capability. According to Versant, prospects putting in solar panels are financially answerable for the price of these upgrades, drastically rising the price of putting in solar panels.
“Those seeking to interconnect are responsible for any grid upgrades to interconnect,” stated Judy Long, supervisor of communications for Versant Power. “We don’t want customers who aren’t benefiting from that to pay for those upgrades.”
The grid capability difficulty is changing into an increasing number of of an issue as extra folks set up solar panels. Maine’s electrical infrastructure was not designed to deal with so many houses sending power again to the grid. With the variety of home solar panels on the rise as a result of state incentives, the state’s infrastructure is shortly changing into overwhelmed.
“Since the laws and incentives were broadened in 2019 we’ve seen a dramatic uptick in people looking to interconnect,” Long stated. “The grid was never meant to accommodate widespread two-way power.”
The difficulty is that with too many solar panels comes an excessive amount of electrical energy. With so many individuals producing their very own electrical energy and sending it again to the grid, there may be not sufficient demand for the additional power generated by people.
“We have way more solar capacity looking to interconnect than we have demand for electricity,” Long stated. “In some areas we just cannot add solar without threatening the reliability and safety of the grid.”
As one of many outstanding installers of solar panels within the area, Danny Piper, proprietor of Sundog Solar in Searsport, has a front-row seat to the power grid’s limits being reached. He has seen many potential prospects be denied entry to solar energy as a result of Versant’s limitations, and the client’s incapability to pay for giant scale infrastructure enhancements.
“They’re requiring additional infrastructure upgrades to our customers, things that have never been required in the past,” Piper stated. “They are dollar amounts large enough to make people think twice.”
Piper is discouraged by the capability limitations on Maine’s electrical infrastructure, particularly as he sees extra folks shifting to a extra electric-centric life-style. In an effort to cut back dependency on fossil fuels and lower your expenses on oil, individuals are shifting towards electrical options out and in of the home, however the grid is having a tough time maintaining.
“The load is growing, everybody is electrifying everything in their life,” Piper stated. “Our peak load is going to probably triple or greater with the electrification of heating and transportation, so that alone is going to cause the need to update our grid.”
In Piper’s opinion, the one method to make solar energy a practical aim to most Mainers is to conduct statewide, large-scale upgrades to the power grid infrastructure. He says this should be carried out at a state stage, and the price of the upgrades should be paid collectively reasonably than charging people lots of of hundreds of {dollars} to eat the price of upgrading a grid that lots of of different folks use.
“It’s going to take legislative action to do that because it’s going to be the socialization of these [upgrading] expenses,” Piper stated. “The state has to do this because the state is who mandates Versant.”
State Sen. Nicole Grohoski (D-Ellsworth) stated that placing the burden {of electrical} infrastructure upgrades on all power prospects could be an costly process. While people paying for upgrades is usually not an choice, making the price collective would elevate already excessive electrical energy charges.
“It’s challenging because we already have really high rates in the state of Maine,” Grohoski stated. “It’s going to cost Maine ratepayers more.”
That being stated, the state authorities is working to assist remedy the infrastructure drawback. So far, the Legislature has requested that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) conduct a grid planning course of to higher perceive the situation of present infrastructure in numerous areas of the state.
“Hopefully undertaking that process should show what is actually happening on the ground,” Grohoski stated. “Where does the grid need to be rebuilt and in what order.”
Grohoski additionally desires to create a useful resource for people who’re contemplating solar energy for his or her houses. This could be a map that might enable folks seeking to set up solar panels to see if their power grid might help interconnection. If the Legislature can not remedy the issue totally, she desires to assist folks know what their choices are, and assist these trying into renewable energy choices save effort and time in determining what is offered to them.
“The other thing that I’m going to be requesting, most likely through the Legislature, is a dynamic hosting capacity map,” Grohoski stated. “Let people see where there is capacity to accept renewables on the grid.”
As for truly making capability upgrades to the present electrical infrastructure, Grohoski stated this isn’t a simple enterprise because of the approach utilities are managed. Power corporations are corporations in any case, and usually are not more likely to take up a pricey endeavor that can hinder their means to show a revenue within the quick time period.
“A critical infrastructure that our economy relies on is a for-profit monopoly,” Grohoski stated. “The question then is who should pay? Is there a societal benefit? Is this an upgrade that needs to happen anyway?”
Although there is probably not a transparent resolution this present day, legislators are retaining shut tabs on the difficulty of power grid capability, and are in search of methods to resolve the problems attributable to outdated infrastructure.
“Legislators are aware of the problem and we are hopeful that our technical staff and the PUC can work towards solutions,” Grohoski stated.
Anthony Ronzio, deputy director of the Governor’s Office on Policy Innovation and the Future, stated that increasing the present grid infrastructure was a precedence for the state.
“Expanding the capacity of our electrical grid to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and advance cost-effective renewable energy projects is a priority not only for Maine, but all of New England, and is the subject of current planning and investment efforts,” Ronzio wrote in an electronic mail to The American.
Ronzio additionally described efforts that the state and federal governments have made to resolve the infrastructure difficulty. He cited LD 1959, which is a bit of laws meant to enhance the planning {of electrical} grids to satisfy Maine’s future energy wants and targets, and the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which incentivizes electrical grid enchancment. In the meantime, Ronzio encourages Mainers to maintain investing in clear energy, but in addition to concentrate on the constraints that grid capability poses for the time being.
“[The bill] creates a process for integrated planning with Maine’s utilities for future investments in Maine’s grid to support our state’s statutory climate and clean energy targets. Further grid investments are also anticipated on a state and regional level through the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Ronzio wrote. “As these processes move forward, we encourage Maine consumers interested in investing in clean energy technology — like solar — to work closely with their solar installer and utilities to understand the interconnection capacity in their area and make decisions accordingly.”
