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Meeker Energy, a member-owned electric cooperative serving about 10,000 homes and businesses in central Minnesota, is typical of many non-profit utilities across the country. While investor-owned giants tout the profit potential of large-load pipelines in the gigawatts, distribution coops like Meeker are watching the wholesale cost of electricity rise, with little they can do to mitigate it except controlling for their own consumption. That expense accounts for the largest part of members’ bills.
That’s where storage comes in. The utility is in the early stages of testing behind-the-meter residential batteries at members’ homes for resilience and demand response.
Steve Kosbab, Meeker’s energy services manager, said 60% of its members participate in at least one of its load management programs, which already helps Meeker reduce wholesale power demand charges.
“We’re at a level of demand response where we can only shed so much … so we’re looking at how we can enhance demand response programs that are very mature and very successful,” Kosbab told Utility Dive.
