TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
I guess I'm just a total socialist when it comes to power. To me, the whole point of a load balancing battery is to serve as a benefit to the grid (to offset the negative of intermittent generation). If the utility thinks it will serve them better for them to control the way in which it balances, I don't have a problem with that. The benefit to me as a customer is less opposition to renewable power and potentially lower prices to everyone for grid power as the utility will have fewer problems with demand peaks and valleys.
Everything he said was absolutely true, however he needs to be more aware of how he represents this new energy dynamic. Having a battery in your basement and selling juice to the grid via SCTY is a wonderful thing, but it's not being portrayed in a way that's palatable to the average consumer(let alone appealing). Lyndon talks as if he's making a case in front of a utility commission, even when there are cameras rolling and he's talking to reporters. That's not good when we're looking for consumer sentiment to drive policy and tech adoption.
At the 57:30 mark that I noted above he tries to articulate the benefits of a distributed model for smoothing, but it comes out as "You gotta give control of that storage to the grid, you gotta have the utility be able to use that so they can load balance everything..." That is not a consumer-centric portrayal of the new energy dynamic we advocate, it's closer to a sound-bite for a Heritage Foundation attack ad. So the very thing that will set consumers free can be portrayed as shackles if you're not crafting and articulating your message properly.