Power companies are liable for fire. So when the wind blows, the power company shuts off your power.
As a result, on any given day, whether the weather is extreme or benign, hundreds or thousands of Utahns will be without power. (On any given day, tens of thousands of Californians are left in the dark — and, as we’ve established, as goes California, so goes Utah.)
Here’s how we got to now.
1. Paradise, CA – 2018/2019
In 2019, facing $30 billion in lawsuits, Pacific Gas and Electric declared bankruptcy and set the ultimate precedent for unreliable power: power companies are responsible when their equipment starts a fire because of extreme (or normal) weather conditions.
2. Northern Utah – 2020
2020 was the year (in addition to experiencing an earthquake and a global pandemic) that Northern Utahans with traditional solar learned their power doesn’t stay on when the grid goes down. This is a safety feature that keeps linemen alive, but has the unfortunate effect of putting solar-powered homes out of power, even when their panels are producing.
The battery solves this problem by pairing a backup interface with both the battery and the solar panels — giving you uninterrupted power in any condition.
3. Texas – 2021
Most folks think that Texas’ grid failed (for weeks on end, in 2021) due to extreme winter weather, but that was only part of the story. In desperation, ERCOT (The Electric Reliability Council of Texas) initiated rotating outages to keep the grid from lighting the state on fire due to the unusual electricity demand. As a result, Texans had their pipes burst and were unable to purchase gas or groceries for weeks on end. Many died.
4. Washington County, Utah – today
The risk of wildfire for Southern Utah Homeowners is expected to quintuple over the next few years. That portends an exponential increase in the frequency, duration and severity of power outages. The future is, quite literally, dark.
“Perhaps nowhere is the collision between unmapped wildfire risk and America’s feverish housing market clearer than in Dammeron Valley, a small town in southwest Utah.“
-NY Times, May 16, 2022
