It's Time for Electric Democracy

Time For Electric Democracy

The time for electric democracy is now. The stakes could not be higher. The electric utility industry is in transition. The Central Station Era of the electric utility system is in a long and slow fade due to evolving technology that shifts the economies of scale. That brings forth an opportunity which we must take advantage of. 

So, argues founding our board member, George Crocker, in his new vision of an energy management system that provides a system-wide alternative to the utilities’ familiar central-station paradigm. His 4-page infographic essay Electric Democracy: Profitable Solutions To Environmental Problems And The Affordability Crisis updates and refines themes explored in his 2024 book About Power: How to Democratize Electricity Now. 

In the central-station model the vast majority of all electricity flows through 3 main steps: 1) large thermal power plant generation; 2) long distance transmission to substations along high-voltage lines; 3) then the load-serving substation steps down the voltage of the electricity so that it can be delivered through the distribution grid to all points of consumption.

With new rules to go along with new technology, the grid could be more resilient and efficient, lowering costs and overcoming the above limitations.

To provide a contrast, here are the four electric democracy differentiators that Crocker lays out:

1)     Investment and improvements in energy efficiency to significantly reduce supply-side load or demand.

2)     Development of opportunities to deploy roof-top solar on residential and business structures with adequate solar exposure.

3)   Strategically sizing and siting community-owned solar gardens to become the primary source of domestic and commercial electricity. 

4)  Strategically sizing and siting iron oxide batteries in a similar manner so that the energy from renewable power can be stored and then dispatched when needed.

That’s it.  Presto!  Electric Democracy! 

In sum, the key is strategically sizing and siting both new renewable power and battery storage to fit on the low-voltage side of each substation. By staying on the low voltage side of the distribution grid and substations and within community or neighborhood footprints, we stand to save a massive amount of time and expense by not having to build new high-voltage transmission lines. 

So, what are we waiting for? What’s the hold up? You’d think common sense would win out, but while our energy technology has evolved drastically, the overall rules governing the system have not. 

The regulatory structure, statutes and rules that govern electric utility management, originated in the early 20th century when economies of scale drove power plants to become larger. Each unit of energy generation capacity got cheaper as power plants got bigger. That also required countless miles of transmission lines to deliver electricity from distant sources to the population centers. The huge capital formations required to build and operate this central station power plant model. That locked in place then the regulated monopoly business model for electric utilities, which evolved from the robber baron era of railroads and steel mills. These “natural” monopolies, as we now know them, operate in their respective territories, and the whole construct is a human artifact, as natural as the now banned food dye FD&C Red No. 3. 

The statutory and regulatory framework that enabled the electric utility industry to grow and prosper during the Central Station Era are still firmly entrenched today. Through regulatory capture, and fleets of lobbyists, they are fighting to ensure that the ownership structures of the central-station model remain intact as far into the future as they can hold on. 

But now modern renewable technologies have entirely different economies of scale. Their components become cheaper and cheaper as more of them get mass-produced in factories. Photovoltaic solar panels today cost about 10% of what they did in the 1980s in constant dollar terms. 

In his book About Power, Crocker explains how the rules of the old system governing electric utility management make utilities inclined to centralize new solar power in a way that mimics the central station power plants. Thus, they continue to require high voltage transmission lines, adding expense and time delay.  

That’s unfortunate, because trying to make solar fit in the central station model forfeits the key benefit of solar technology which is that it is entirely modular and adaptable to almost anyplace. 

How should the rules of the system change in terms of utility ownership structures to accommodate this Electric Democracy vision of generation and storage capacity?

Community Power supports ensuring community ownership of energy assets, whether through municipal governments, co-ops or other types of entities that are accountable to community needs. 

This would involve a wide variety of utility ownership structures: 

1. The owners of the distributed generation and storage capacity should be able to sell their electricity to the power company at a rate a bit below the retail rate. 
2. Then the power company would continue to serve its retail consumers as usual, at least at first.
3. The existing power company would then serve as back-up for reliability purposes and still serve larger industrial and commercial loads.

A transformation of our energy system will occur one way or another. The question is whether the management of facilities that provide society with electric utility services will continue to follow the monopoly model developed to serve the Central Station Era, or if instead, society will take advantage of the invitation that modern technologies offer for electric democracy.   

The politics to implement such a system would ordinarily be daunting. But these are not ordinary times.  

The case for top-to-bottom reform for a Clean Local Equitable Affordable Resilient (CLEAR) energy future will provide a positive message that many looking to provide leadership are seeking to articulate.

Let’s develop energy neighborhoods, and electric democracy for all.