Contractors across California are seeing greater demand for battery storage than ever before in response to PG&E’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs. With the threat of blackouts on the 10-year horizon, customers have decided to take their power into their own hands.
As has been well documented, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has begun Public Safety Power Shutdowns across California, including customers in the San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento metro areas, just to name a few. The shutdowns, being applied in three phases, are already affecting hundreds of thousands of Californians, some living just a couple miles outside of these big cities.
Tanjent’s PowerBanx X battery storage, in black enclosure (Image: Tanjent)
Specifically, the first phase affected just over 500,000 households, with the second phase affecting 234,000, and the third phase affecting 4,000. The below map outlines the areas currently and set to be affected by the outages.
In response to the shutdowns and the energy uncertainty they bring for the foreseeable future, Californians are taking measures into their own hands. Citizens across the state are turning to battery storage in order to provide backup power in case of a blackout, with the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) sharing with pv magazine USA that “phones are ringing off the hook for contractors up and down the state.”
Those who have already installed systems on their roofs are looking to add battery backup, while those who had never even considered solar before are calling to get quotes on the solar + storage systems that they hope will get them through these uncertain times.
Read more: PV Magazine USA