California Energy Challenge

Introduction

In August 2022, regulators in California officially announced a ban on new internal combustion engine (ICE) sales by 2035. California is the first state in the U.S. to do this, and the state represents the largest auto market in the country. In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resource Board (CARB) set targets for decarbonization at the building level. Boston became the first U.S. city to follow with an aggressive city-wide plan to eliminate fossil fuel use in new developments and major renovations.

Why it matters

While these policies certainly have those who disagree, California and CARB are typically the first to move, and others will follow. (As seen already with Boston)

Unprecedented Heat Wave

This week, 9/5/22, has brought an unprecedented heat wave to California. A wildfire known as the Fairview fire has already burned roughly 2,400 acres southeast of Los Angeles, and temperatures in Sacramento soared to 116 degrees, an all-time high. Due to the increase in electricity load from air conditioning, CAISO, the grid operator, warned customers of potential rotating power outages and raised the Energy Emergency Alert to Level 3. CAISO also asked customers to reduce their electricity usage by not charging electric vehicles (EVs) and setting thermostats to 78 degrees.

Grid Challenges

These types of events are becoming more and more common. As the electric grid, commercial buildings, homes, and the transportation sector continue to decarbonize, solutions are needed.

Solution

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are the missing link that connect to all these areas. As an example, a battery storage system from Batricity, placed behind the meter (customer side of the electric grid) can do the following:

- Support and enable EV charging

- Reduce demand charges on utility bills (demand charges can account for 70% of monthly cost)

- Emergency backup during outages

- Earn revenue from utilities / grid operators through demand response programs

- Improve utilization of renewables by storing solar during peak production to be used at other times of the day

With the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, battery storage systems from Batricity now qualify for the Investment Tax Credit and no longer are required to be co-located with solar.

California needs safe, resilient, cost-effective solutions to these challenges and Batricity is here to help. Contact us today to learn more.

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The team at Batricity has been in touch with school districts and, in several cases, with First Student, the largest school bus operator in the U.S. to develop infrastructure solutions. By The Numbers First Student submitted applications for a total of 1,155 electric buses. To put this in perspective, given national averages, the applications could allow roughly 127,000 students to gain access to zero emissions school buses. Why This Matters Studies have shown the air quality inside a diesel school bus is worse than the ambient levels outside the bus. Of course, zero emission buses are better for the outside air and the communities they travel through, but young lungs that are not yet fully developed are more sensitive to poor air quality than most adults. How Batricity Helps Brining the correct type of power, and the adequate amount of power, to the locations needed for electric bus charging infrastructure can be challenging. Many parts of the county only have access to single phase power. Also, the amount of energy needed to recharge electric bus fleets is substantial, often resulting in expensive demand charges from the utility company. Batricity has solutions specifically designed solve these challenges, and is actively working with schools to help. In addition to battery storage system experience, our team has been involved in hundreds of EV charging projects. Contact Please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you and would be happy to discuss your project.