Not Only Texas Went Dark in February: After Storm, Portland, Oregon Tests Resiliency Partnerships

Texas captured worldwide attention in February when a devastating storm crippled the state’s power system. But at about the same time, and to much less fanfare, part of the Northwest struggled with similar issues. Portland, Oregon, experienced power outages because of severe weather that left about 200,000 customers in the dark, some for several days.

The outage followed last summer’s wildfire-related public safety power shutoff in the Mt. Hood region, affecting about 5,000 customers near the mountain known for its outdoor recreation opportunities.

For Portland General Electric (PGE), the utility that serves Portland and the surrounding areas, the outages underscore the need for its new resilience programs that test utility use of energy storage situated on the premises of its customers. PGE created the pilot programs to help the utility respond to outages sparked by different types of disasters, including earthquakes, wildfires and storms.

Under two PGE pilot partnerships, the utility owns and deploys batteries behind the meter at customer sites, and the customers provide solar and other on-site resources to create microgrids. PGE has also launched a residential pilot program under which customers buy their own batteries — in some cases, at a discount — that can be aggregated and utilized by PGE.

“When we have customer sited energy storage, it can provide grid services day in and day out without emissions impact. And it still provides customer support in the event of grid scale outages,” said Darren Murtaugh, senior manager, grid edge solutions for PGE. “When the utility participates, it leverages so much more value.”

This model will help PGE reach for its goal of 100% clean energy, he added.

PGE has already deployed a battery at the Beaverton Public Safety Center and is planning to deploy another one at the Oregon National Guard’s Anderson Readiness Center.

Microgrid projects for public safety and military readiness

At the Beaverton Public Safety Center, PGE aims to provide resiliency with a microgrid that is both grid connected and can island. The microgrid includes 250 KW/1,000 kWh of battery storage — owned by PGE — 300 kW of solar, and a 1 MW diesel standby generator owned by the city. The microgrid controller comes from PXiSE.

This project, now operating, showcases a model in which the utility owns the storage and the local government owns the solar and other assets such as diesel. The partnership establishes a division of assets that allows PGE to prioritize storage for grid services under normal operations. The storage system can discharge to the grid to support frequency. It can also support voltage at the feeder level by charging or discharging in response to the needs of the grid.

The Anderson Readiness Center project is now in development. PGE will own the 500 kW/1 MWh battery. The Oregon Military Department (OMD) just completed installing 268 kW of solar PV, which the military will own. Also part of the project are two 800 kW diesel generators owned by the OMD that have been participating in PGE’s dispatchable standby generator (DSG) program for many years. In fact, the diesel generators kept the readiness center powered during a brief outage caused by the February storm, said Kenneth Safe, chief facilities & maintenance officer for the OMD.

“The opportunity to partner with PGE on the Anderson Readiness Center microgrid is a win-win,” he said. “PGE can utilize the backup generators and the battery storage in their Dispatchable Standby Generator program.” And the Oregon Military Department can use the solar PV and energy storage when it’s not needed by PGE. During grid outages, the backup generators are also available for use by the OMD.

Under the DSG program, which has been in place for many years, PGE uses backup generators that are located at customers’ sites when it needs extra power.

During the February storm, PGE focused on ensuring that DSG participants could operate their resources for their own use, rather than having PGE use them. “Our focus was making sure our DSG customers could run their own power. It was a wild success. Their units are well maintained by PGE,” said Murtaugh. PGE managed refueling for the customers.

Residential battery pilots

Residential customers also have the opportunity to participate in battery pilot programs. Under the Residential Energy Storage Pilot, PGE aggregates customer owned batteries and dispatches the power as a virtual power plant.

This project is possible in part because more and more customers are seeking resiliency and installing storage, said Murtaugh.

“Customers are ready to make resiliency investments. They could make them on their own or the utility can participate,” he said.

Thirty-four residential customers are now participating — many of whom already owned batteries — and the program has a cap of 525 participants. Customers who live in certain “residential testbed” regions qualify for a $3,000 rebate on the batteries. PGE pays all participants $20 to $40 a month for the right to dispatch their batteries.

PGE aims to utilize up to 4 MW, 8 MWh of residential energy storage. Most of the existing participants have Tesla Powerwalls that are 5 kW, 13.5 kWh batteries, said Murtaugh.