Zachary Bradford, CEO and president of CleanSpark, sat down with Microgrid Knowledge to talk about the growth of residential microgrids and how the new administration can encourage faster consumer adoption rates.
CleanSpark, a technology company focused on microgrid software, is seeing significant growth in the residential market, according to CEO Zachary Bradford. Because of recent events in California and Texas, “everybody is now starting to hear the term microgrid and recognize the importance of having some control over your energy, not just if you’re a military base, but if you’re a homeowner.”
When asked what needs to be done to expand the understanding of microgrids in the residential market, the CEO cited the need for the education of both consumers and policymakers. He said that homeowners need to understand that residential microgrids offer more than just resiliency when the power goes out. “I think that something that’s really important to continue to educate people on is that microgrids can help save people money on their monthly power bill, whether there is a significant outage event or not.”
Bradford also believes policymakers need to be engaged so they can make educated decisions when creating interconnection rules. “It’s incredibly important that we have a stable grid, and that’s why the utilities need to be involved. But really, states and regulators need to pay attention to make sure that these programs, and also the laws around it … serves the end consumer,” he said.
When asked about the new Biden administration’s green energy agenda, Bradford was optimistic, and he had some ideas on how revamping tax incentives could increase the pace of residential microgrid adoption. “There’s a lot of people with means that can put a microgrid in, but microgrid[s] shouldn’t just be for people that have means. So these incentives are really important to help bring energy solutions which are important to everybody and to equalize that playing field.”
Learn more about the microgrid business at the next Microgrid Knowledge conference: Microgrid 2021: The World Awakens to Microgrids, May 11-June 3.
