Google and Tesla think we’re managing the electrical grid all wrong

Google, Tesla, and data center developer Verrus are among a group of companies arguing that the electrical grid is being underutilized and they want everyone — especially politicians — to know about it.

The three companies along with HVAC giant Carrier, virtual power plant company Renew Home, distributed energy resource developer Sparkfund, and smart electrical panel startup Span founded a new group called Utilize to get that message across. The group, which launched Tuesday, is advocating to change the way the grid is built and used. The group points out, correctly, that the grid is designed for brief bursts of high demand; most of the time there’s lots of capacity that goes unused.

Utilize thinks that should change. The group argues that smarter ways to use that capacity already exist. Utilize name-checks a number of those solutions, including battery storage, demand response, and virtual power plants, all of which have emerged en masse over the last decade, but remain under utilized. (Oh, that’s where the name comes from.)

In many cases, those new technologies are used to improve the grid’s resilience. Take Texas’ grid, for example, which has fared better during recent cold snaps following an increase in battery storage in the state. Still, many regulators and politicians remain wary of these new technologies, opting instead to stick with familiar options like centralized fossil fuel power plants.

Utilize says it will “advocate for policies” that encourage more widespread adoption of the new technologies, which also benefit those involved. 

Each member occupies a niche piece of the grid. On the sell side, Tesla sells batteries and solar panels, Span sells an electrical panel that can react to changing loads, Carrier makes heat pumps, and Sparkfund and Renew Home build and aggregate distributed energy resources. On the buy side, Google and Verrus have enormous power needs to keep their servers humming.

The organization calls itself a “coalition,” which is pretty squishy language. Utilize already touts one legislative win, saying that “some members of Utilize” backed a bill in Virginia that would require utilities to quantify and disclose how the grid is being used. 

That wording suggests that while Utilize might be pushing for policy changes, it probably isn’t lobbying directly, at least yet. TechCrunch did not receive a reply to inquiries sent to Utilize and the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding the organization’s status as a lobbyist.

Advocacy organizations are no stranger to the utility industry, but the combination of new technology paired with buy- and sell-side companies makes Utilize something different. Changing the way the grid is regulated is a long game, but if they don’t start now, it’ll be too late.