FEATURE-In New York, neighbors trading solar energy electrify community
March 30th, 2017 | Sebastien Malo | Reuters
Our views on the evolution of blockchain in energy and utilities were featured in Reuters.
For David Groarke, managing director at Indigo Advisory, a New York-based energy and utilities consulting firm, it's easy to see why the notion of blockchain-backed grids has electrified the industry by changing the ground rules governing who is a seller and a buyer of power. "To get that right is a multi-decade process," Groarke said in a phone interview."But if all the pieces come together, we could see something extraordinary happen."
For one, the multiplication of micro-grids such as New York's TransActive Grid could cut energy losses. In current grids, as electricity travels long distances from power plants to electricity pylons to meters, some power gets lost, he said. About five percent of the electricity transmitted and distributed in the United States disappears as it crosses long distances, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Widespread use of autonomous micro-grids also could make communities more resilient to disasters because they could continue operating if broader conventional grids went down, Groarke said.