How to Get off the Grid Through Efforts Fueled by the Natural Gas Distribution System

Dec. 21, 2020
A new report from Mesa Solutions explains how a ommercial or industrial site can go completely off the grid with a system fueled primarily by the natural gas distribution system.

Alternative energy options are growing at a rapid pace. And it can be hard to wade through the variety of choices. A new report from Mesa Solutions aims to provide an approach that provides an option to get off the grid, while retaining stability, cost efficiency and reliability.

Get the full report.

The report is titled, “How to Get Off the Electric Grid, Stabilize Cost and Reliability, Use Renewables, and Increase Efficiency.” Its author, Thomas Poteet, vice president of corporate development at Mesa Solutions, says the report explains “how to get your commercial or industrial site completely off the electric grid by using prime power internal combustion engine natural gas generators, fueled primarily by the natural gas distribution system.”

This approach includes about three backup scenarios, among them solar that can reduce baseload fuel consumption and get you started down the road to more renewables later, Poteeet said.

The system uses the latest in Internet-of-Things sensor and control technology to make electric sourcing and electric loading into one self-aware intelligent system that constantly works to improve reliability and efficiency, “while keeping all this capability essentially under the cost ceiling of what you’re currently paying just for grid power,” he said.

That leaves a lot to unpack, and that’s the purpose of this new report. 

Poteet notes that getting off the grid may seem like a huge step.

“A good analysis should consider the options available to achieve the same demand capacity as the candidate site receives from its utility connection, as well as how the new system will be operated, maintained, and fueled,” the report states.

Poteet compares the shift to going from city water to well water — one that brings a new level of control and independence — in this case, for energy.

Why natural gas generators? The report asserts that a generator powered by an internal combustion natural gas engine often makes the most sense in terms of reliability and cost efficiency.

Poteet also explores the benefits of installing a reasonably-sized solar installation at the onset of a project — along with a suitable microgrid controller that looks at the generators and the solar panels — as it will be much easier to add other renewables over time.

A good option for companies today looking to implement a similar approach is to seek out an energy-as-a-aervice provider to work alongside for the entirety of the shift off the grid.

Get the full report, “How to Get Off the Electric Grid, Stabilize Cost & Increase Efficiency,” courtesy of Mesa Solutions, to learn more about how to get off the electric grid using prime power internal combustion engine natural gas generators fueled primarily by the natural gas distribution system. 

Learn more about Mesa Solutions.

About the Author

Sarah Rubenoff

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