FuelCell Energy Inc (FCEL)

[briarhopper1]

Microgrids Could Spark a $2.8 Billion Investment Opportunity
8:50 am ET January 14, 2020 (PR Newswire) Print
Nearly a million customers across California lost power in October 2019, as PG&E deliberately shut off power. All as PG&E tried to battle high winds, and wildfire conditions. Unfortunately, the costs of deliberate blackouts set the California economy back by as much as $1 billion, according to The Sacramento Bee. Others, like Michael Wara of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment said the economic cost of the shutdown could have reached $2.5 billion, as noted by CNBC. That's why many people are calling for solutions, such as microgrids, or a smaller version of an electrical grid powered by local energy. "A microgrid can be powered by distributed generators, batteries, and/or renewable resources like solar panels. Depending on how it's fueled and how its requirements are managed, a microgrid might run indefinitely," according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Plus, according to GTM Research, the annual microgrid market could double over the next two years from $1.4 billion in 2017 to $2.8 billion by 2022.