Report: Smart grid upgrades offer less risk, more flexibility than power lines

Article originally published by Energy News Network

[Non-Wires Alternatives: Case Studies from Leading U.S. Projects… report suggests so-called non-wires alternatives — combinations of storage and distributed generation that don’t depend on long-distance transmission — offer a less risky and more flexible option to help utilities avoid overbuilding capacity.

“This is a really interesting and important aspect of non-wires alternative projects,” said Brenda Chew, a research analyst with the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), which just published a joint report with the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) about the potential for non-wires alternatives…

The market for alternatives to big transmission projects is fledgling, but growing. The authors found more than 100 projects across the U.S. today. In 2017, $63 million was spent on these kinds of alternative projects, but that’s projected to increase to $580 million by 2026…