Lone Star Adoption: Texas Microgrid Growth Up Nearly 20X in Past 10 Years
Texas is proud to be the Lone Star State which claims the distinction of being a “whole other country,” due to its independent history.
But even Texans don’t want to go it alone when it comes to energy security and resiliency. Grid isolation during periods of extreme weather is now a whole other issue local business owners want to protect themselves against as soon as possible.
Installation of commercial microgrids in Texas has more than doubled in the past five years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. Since early 2021, when Winter Storm Uri’s extended freeze caused 52 GW in lost grid capacity and eventually led to more than 100 deaths, commercial customers have added nearly 100 defined microgrids statewide, the DOE data shows.
A recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas noted the growing concern shown by electricity customers within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system. Massive winter outages and threats of peak demand overwhelming grid capacity has forced the hand of customers who want a backup power plan.
“Some Texas households and businesses have opted to invest in their own backup generation. Others have taken the next step: investing in private microgrids to ensure their energy needs are consistently met, reads the report by authors Prithvi Kalkunte, Jesse Thompson and Garrett Golding, all with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas staff. “Grocer H-E-B and retailer Buc-ee’s are among the most visible such investors, while the University of Texas at Austin houses the largest non-military microgrid, with a capacity of 146 MW.”
The DOE graphic used in the bank’s article shows that Texas was home to only 17 commercial microgrids in 2016, compared to 308 nationwide. By 2023, the number of Texas commercial microgrids skyrocketed to more 300, now making up more halfway of nearly 600 U.S. commercial microgrids.
From 2021, when Winter Storm Uri struck in February, until 2023, the Texas installed commercial microgrid count rose from 130 to 302, according to the DOE stats.
Not surprisingly in the historic fossil fuel production state, natural gas fuels 90% of microgrids statewide, the federal article shows. Solar power, paired with battery storage, is growing in stature as an on-site power resource.
Microgrids was one of the few states or territories to earn a “B” grade recently in advocacy group Think Microgrid’s second State Scorecard. The others were Connecticut, Maine, Colorado and Puerto Rico, ranked higher due to more microgrid-friendly policies.
The $10 billion Texas Energy Fund, approved by voters and legislators, includes nearly $1.8 billion marked to incentivize distributed energy projects.
Citing the growing importance of microgrids within Texas, the annual Microgrid Knowledge Conference chose to hold its 2025 event at the Sheraton Dallas. Microgrid Knowledge Conference 2025 will be April 15-17.
