Renewables Soothe Grid During High Season Heatwaves

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My guy and I are traveling in eastern Massachusetts this week. It’s oceanfront tourism at its finest: weathered beachfront homes, open-air dining, riding the long and low cool surf. Unusual for the region, heatwaves do have our personal energy levels drooping. The 90 degree dog days seem daunting when we’re immersed in full sunshine.

It’s also a time in which the air conditioners are blowing 24/7. Electricity demand has increased significantly during these heatwaves, and we’ve spied a whole lotta heat pumps in our travels — those clever cooling-and-warming electrical devices. In addition to providing heated air in the winter and cool air in the summer, they are far more efficient than conventional heat sources, delivering three to four times more heat per dollar spent than oil- or gas-fired heating equipment or old fashioned electric baseboard heat. They also create far less carbon pollution.

Heat pumps are just one example of how we are methodically changing the way we power our lives. In the heatwaves of late, New England’s ultra-high temps have depended on solar panels and batteries to keep folks cool — and at the same time they’re reducing fossil fuel generation and likely saving consumers on electric bills.

Extreme weather, including heatwaves, poses a significant threat to human health and ecosystems. As global temperatures continue to rise, heatwaves are becoming more frequent and severe.

You know, of the many important climate crisis topics we can discuss with climate skeptics, the intersection of clean energy and heatwaves is at the top of the most teachable moments. Experiencing hot and dry weather increases belief that climate change is happening and facilitates behavior change. As heat waves increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, personal experience with hot weather is becoming a significant driver of public awareness.

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As early as 2018, researchers were revealing that extreme heat was a salient issue that people could grasp as related to global warming. Information about extreme heat from climate change seemed more familiar, intuitive, and easier for people to understand compared to other health harms from climate change. Later, a 2024 study concluded that just talking about heatwaves, without mentioning climate change, was enough to change beliefs.

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reiterates how important it is to emphasize the connection between climate change and extreme weather events like heatwaves and how these events directly impact people’s health, the economy, and public infrastructure. When people share their personal experiences with global warming, they “can shape people’s climate beliefs. Research also indicates that hot, dry days have been more likely than other extreme weather events to cause people to say they have experienced global warming.”

How Renewables Helped New England During A Peak Summer Energy Day

ISO New England system operators balanced supply and demand on the regional power system during the capacity deficiency on June 24. Consumer demand for grid electricity unofficially peaked that evening at 26,024 megawatts, the highest level seen in the region since 2013. The ISO estimates that without contributions from behind-the-meter photovoltaics, demand would have peaked around three hours earlier and more than 2,000 MW higher than the actual peak.

At that time, non-carbon-emitting resources provided a maximum of about 40% of the energy consumed in the region. Non-carbon-emitting resources include BTM PV as well as nuclear, hydro, wind, telemetered solar, battery storage, and demand response.

Acadia Center, a regional nonprofit that analyzed clean energy’s financial benefits during the recent heatwaves, offers these insights into the power and promise of renewable energy. Looking specifically at the 100 degree June 24 peak event, Acadia reports that:

• Local solar, energy efficiency, and other clean energy helped make New England’s power grid more reliable and more affordable for consumers.
• As real-time wholesale electricity prices soared above $1,000 per MWh in the evening, behind-the-meter (BTM) solar saved consumers at least $8.2 million on one of the most expensive days of the year for the grid.
• Five-plus gigawatts (GW) of BTM solar helped the region’s power grid ride through one of the hottest days of the year, which tested the grid’s reliability with the highest peak demand in several years.

• System data reveals clear evidence for the benefits of deploying battery energy storage across the region to even better align periods of solar output with peaks in demand and wholesale prices.
• Nearly two gigawatts of peak demand reductions from energy efficiency likely helped ensure resource adequacy as well.
• Net imports from neighboring regions were relied on in all 24 hours of the day, exceeding 3 GW from 5pm-on, during the periods of highest net demand and cost, highlighting the benefits of interregional transmission even when neighboring systems also face system stress.

“Reckless proposals at the federal level to punish renewables and energy storage,” the Acadia analysis indicates, “would severely constrain regions’ ability to build on this approach and keep electricity reliable and affordable.”

Vermont’s largest utility relieved some of the pressure on the grid during this same time period by deploying its widespread network of residential and EV batteries. The potential energy savings for its customers could accrue to $3 million, according to Canary Media, by eliminating the utility’s need to buy expensive power from the grid and reducing fees tied to peak demand.

These virtual power plants are a network of small energy generation sites that are combined with storage technologies like home batteries and electric vehicles to help grid operators manage peak demand, improve affordability, and bolster grid resilience. The network could be as simple as hundreds of homes with rooftop solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Final Thoughts About Heatwaves & Teachable Moments

Many areas within the US already experience severe heat waves, and they will see lengthened heatwave duration and higher temperatures as the effects of global warming deepen.

Education is key to understanding and action. People living in warmer areas such as the southern US perceive more climate risk than those in cooler climates. Yet counties primarily in the Midwest have relatively high exposure to extreme heat but lower-than-average levels of worry about global warming.

A population’s exposure to weather and climate-related hazards is only one of many factors that shape perceived risks of global warming. Exploring effective ways to prepare people for more frequent and intense natural disasters, even in the face of global warming doubts and denial, is imperative to help populations be prepared in the event of a climate emergency. As the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication suggests, understanding the geographic diversity of extreme heat risk perceptions can inform efforts to promote awareness about the causes and consequences of heat waves, which is already the most deadly weather hazard in the US.