Virginia is facing challenges meeting its energy needs for a range of reasons that include failure to fast-track energy generation. One possible solution rests with battery energy storage systems (BESS). Texas and California offer prime examples of BESS efficiency. A story in HeatMap (subscription required) details how BESS across the state is stabilizing the Lone Star State’s grid, which is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). From the story: “In the past month or so, Texas’ grid has hit a number of generation records, according to data collected by Grid Status. … And all the while, the grid has been stable, which is by no means guaranteed in Texas. The state’s grid operator, ERCOT, has not issued a single ‘conservation appeal’ so far this summer.”
Texas and California are the two largest deployers of BESS. How large? “ERCOT alone deploys nearly 10 times more storage than PJM, MISO, SPP, and the Southeast combined.” And they are solutions that can come online quickly. According to the “Storage Gap Report” by GridLab, “BESS offers one of the fastest speed-to-power pathways to developers and operators. Modular, containerized systems can often be permitted, commissioned, and brought online within 6 to 12 months in favorable jurisdictions.”
The rallying cry of financial windfalls is increasingly falling on deaf ears in some Virginia communities when it comes to the topic of data centers. But the Old Dominion’s neighbor to the west is listening attentively. ABC 13 News reports that West Virginia “plans to dedicate half of the tax revenue generated by new data center projects toward reducing and eventually eliminating its personal income tax, linking the rapidly growing AI industry with a broader push for tax relief and economic development.” The plan, put forth by the state’s Republican governor, is a move to address concerns among citizens about the industry and its impact. As the data center debate scrambles the midterm picture, West Virginia will be a state to watch. Can its innovative approach to distributing data center financial windfalls quiet dissent? Or will the anti-data-center fervor roll on?
That technology is changing Virginians’ lives and work is a given. But how? Daily Tech Notes examines the new ventures, educational opportunities, and public ways companies and individuals are leveraging technology to write the commonwealth’s future.
