🌐 Utah is pioneering the future of residential solar energy in America.

In 2020, Rocky Mountain Power, Utah's energy utility, leaped into the unknown. California had been paying Rocky Mountain Power for several years to take the excess solar power that Californians with rooftop solar panels were generating. So much solar energy was produced in the middle of the day when few were at home to consume it that the utilities in California would either ship the energy out of state or just curtail it.

Similar to its counterparts in the Golden State, Rocky Mountain Power provided continuous financial incentives to Utahns to install home solar systems under its net-metering program, which enabled homeowners to sell solar energy back to the utility when it is unused at home.

Seeing its own future in California's fate, Rocky Mountain Power took a different approach. It slashed net-metering rates and introduced financial incentives for homeowners to install connected batteries with their solar systems instead.

It sounds perfectly logical. But perfectly aligning the interests of the energy utility, homeowners, and the companies in the middle, the solar installers, to build a resilient, right-sized renewable energy grid has never happened before, certainly not in America.

Rocky Mountain Power’s plan:

1. Entice thousands to buy batteries for energy storage alongside solar panels.

2. Weave these grid-connected batteries to form a virtual power plant to draw upon - instead of natural gas plants - to stabilize and strengthen the grid.

3. Avoid turning on current natural gas power plants or building new ones.

4. Thereby keeping energy rates low, cutting carbon emissions, and building more resilience against extreme weather.

The question: Would homeowners go for it?

Even with battery incentives, solar-plus-storage systems were (and still are) expensive. Plus, energy rates have been consistently low in Utah. Then, the interest rate for financing started going up.

The hero: ES Solar

When the changes were made, many solar companies fled the state. Selling batteries was considered next to impossible. But ES Solar, a local solar installer, made the strategic decision to go 100% all-in on learning how to profitably sell, install, and manage residential solar-plus-storage solutions.

Today, in partnership with Rocky Mountain Power, ES Solar has installed 96% of the thousands of solar-plus-storage systems operating in homes across Utah.

Zach Randall, VP of Sales for ES Solar, joins the podcast to share how Utah became the center of solar innovation and what it means for the rest of America as other states emulate the Utah experience to build the future.

Take me to the podcast: Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and all other platforms.

Read the full story.

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Stat of the week: 68

That’s the number of natural gas plants canceled or put on hold globally in the first half of 2023 as the cost of giant batteries began achieving price parity with natural gas as an option for energy grids.

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