Severe storms are increasingly leaving us without power. Microgrids can help.
Power grids can be big and clunky—microgrids might change that. (Jason Blackeye/Unsplash/)Not long after Hurricane Laura made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on Thursday morning, there were already hundreds of thousands of people without power, with no indication of when it will return.Blackouts are not a problem unique to this storm. They’re a consequence that can be expected whenever a major hurricane, wildfire, or heat wave grips a region powered by a fragile, aging grid. Just earlier this summer, Hurricane Isaias left more than 2 million people along the east coast without power. A derecho with hurricane-grade winds in the midwest left over 250,000 without power two weeks ago. California experienced historic rolling blackouts amidst a heat wave around the same time.This starkest example of all might be Hurricane Maria. After the storm pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017, the vast majority of the island went dark and it wasn’t until 11...