Dennis Quinn and Maria Fields, Sprocket Power cofounders, contributed to a panel discussion on grid planning and interconnection at the 15th Annual Capture the Energy Conference & Expo in Albany, NY, in May. The conference, sponsored by The New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST), focuses on growing markets and opportunities for energy storage in New York and the northeastern United States.
Fields and Quinn spoke about the rising costs of energy in New York and the northeast generally, and the expected continued rise due to needed upgrades of the electrical grid across the region. They highlighted the role of customer-sited microgrids in providing capacity and resiliency in the grid’s distribution system, along with business models that encourage private investment in these resources. The result creates systemic benefits for multiple stakeholders.
