--- title: Advanced Energy Storage Technologies Must be the New Normal description: "Sacramento Business Journal: Another Voice: Advanced Energy Storage Technologies Must be the New Normal" image: https://blog.ameresco.com/hubfs/Community%20Microgrids%20with%20Energy%20Storage%20Jacquie%20Image.jpg --- [![Ameresco](https://blog.ameresco.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Ameresco_September2020/images/ameresco-logo-header.jpg?width=2000&height=447&name=ameresco-logo-header.jpg "Ameresco")](https://www.ameresco.com/) - [Solutions](https://www.ameresco.com/solutions/) - [Energy Efficiency](https://www.ameresco.com/energy-efficiency/) - [Central Plant Upgrades](https://www.ameresco.com/central-plant-upgrades/) - [Deep Energy Retrofits](https://www.ameresco.com/deep-energy-retrofits/) - [Enterprise HVAC](https://www.ameresco.com/enterprise-hvac/) - [Interior Lighting and Controls](https://www.ameresco.com/interior-lighting-and-controls/) - [LED Street and Area Lighting](https://www.ameresco.com/led-street-and-area-lighting/) - 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[Careers](https://www.ameresco.com/energy-careers-ameresco/) - [Contact](https://www.ameresco.com/contact-us/) # Advanced Energy Storage Technologies Must be the New Normal *Originally published in the [Sacramento Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2019/11/29/another-voice-advanced-energy-storage-technologies.html). In this Op-Ed, Jacqueline DeRosa, vice president of battery energy storage systems, [Ameresco](https://microgridknowledge.com/category/players/ameresco/), explores the need for advanced energy storage technologies amidst power outages.* Power outages have become an unavoidable part of our lives. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events, combined with the public safety power shutoffs in California, are causing homes and businesses to go without electricity for extended periods — and it’s costly. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that power outages are costing American businesses around $150 billion per year. And in California, it is estimated that to date the blackouts have caused over $2.5 billion in economic losses to the state. While the focus of our electric power industry is on near-term actions to ensure safety, the industry and policy makers must also quickly advance solutions that move from the old centralized design of the electric power grid to a greater reliance on local distributed solutions so that business can continue as usual at all times. Under the current paradigm, centralized power plants transmit energy over long distances. This means that a loss in service at a far-off point on the grid can result in local outages, as we have seen with the recent public safety power shutoffs. Distributed energy systems, in contrast, generate electricity closer to the people and businesses who use it. The technology exists to provide more resilient electric power service to a wider range of customers within a local community when the electricity from the bulk power system is unavailable during a disaster, such as a fire, flood or a hurricane, and during non-emergency times, too. Along with extreme weather, aging, outdated infrastructure is another challenge that all major cities in the United States are facing. We are fortunate in Sacramento that California’s distributed resource portfolio already exceeds that of other states, and it is growing exponentially. Distributed solar for homes, schools and businesses continue to rapidly expand. With lower prices, energy storage solutions are also becoming more mainstream in California; advanced energy storage can help to lower the electric bill, utilize excess solar energy, and support customer resiliency. New predictive analytic software combined with lower-cost distributed generation and storage make it possible for homes, businesses and communities to fulfill their energy needs with renewable, low-cost energy while maintaining reliability. For example, solutions that involve microgrids — a localized group of electricity sources that are able to function independently of the main grid — are becoming more common for serving a specific self-contained campus, large customers or local governments. New ways of modeling and monitoring distributed resources to avoid unanticipated power flows and grid instability are finally emerging. Despite the technological feasibility of these applications, however, utility and system operator rules and regulations for reliability planning, boundary definition, ownership, interconnection, operations and rate structure are still evolving. This progression is not happening quickly enough. ##### Share this entry - Share on Twitter - Share on LinkedIn - [mailto:?body=https://blog.ameresco.com/sacramento-business-journal-another-voice-advanced-energy-storage-technologies-must-be-the-new-normal](mailto:?body=https://blog.ameresco.com/sacramento-business-journal-another-voice-advanced-energy-storage-technologies-must-be-the-new-normal) Share by Mail ### Contact Us [info@ameresco.com](mailto:info@ameresco.com) [1-866-AMERESCO](tel:18662637372) [Use our online form](https://www.ameresco.com/contact-us/) ### Categories ### Recent Press Releases - [Adjusting to Climate Change Part 2 of 2: Renewable Energy and Storage (NBC 10 Boston) December 29 2020 - 3: 19 PM](https://blog.ameresco.com/how-solar-power-transformed-a-massachusetts-school-nbc-10-boston-part-1-of-2-0) - [Adjusting to Climate Change Part 1 of 2: How Solar Power Transformed a Massachusetts School (NBC 10 Boston) December 29 2020 - 3: 17 PM](https://blog.ameresco.com/how-solar-power-transformed-a-massachusetts-school-nbc-10-boston-part-1-of-2) - [Doing Well by Doing Good: Ameresco’s First Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Report December 07 2020 - 8: 00 AM](https://blog.ameresco.com/doing-well-by-doing-good-amerescos-first-environmental-social-governance-esg-report) - [San Joaquin County Installs 5.3 MW Solar Array On Landfill Site November 17 2020 - 2: 15 PM](https://blog.ameresco.com/san-joaquin-county-partners-installs-5.3-megawatt-solar-array-on-landfill-site) - [Transfer the Risk with Energy as a Service November 16 2020 - 10: 15 AM](https://blog.ameresco.com/transfer-the-risk-with-energy-as-a-service) ### Press Release Archive - [December 2019 (3)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/12) - [December 2020 (3)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/12) - [June 2019 (2)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/06) - [September 2019 (2)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/09) - [November 2020 (2)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/11) - [March 2019 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/03) - [August 2019 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/08) - [November 2019 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2019/11) - [February 2020 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/02) - [April 2020 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/04) - [May 2020 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/05) - [June 2020 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/06) - [August 2020 (1)](https://blog.ameresco.com/archive/2020/08) see all [Energy Storage Project for Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator Completed by Ameresco](https://blog.ameresco.com/ameresco-completes-energy-storage-project-for-ontarios-independent-electricity-system-operator) [California’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs: The Implications for Microgrids](https://blog.ameresco.com/californias-public-safety-power-shutoffs-the-implications-for-microgrids) - COMPANY INFO - [About Us](https://www.ameresco.com/company/) - [Careers](https://www.ameresco.com/energy-careers-ameresco/) - [Investor Relations](https://ir.ameresco.com/) - [Media Coverage](https://www.ameresco.com/media-coverage/) - [Resource Center](https://www.ameresco.com/resource-center/) - CONTACT AMERESCO - 111 Speen Street, Suite 410 Framingham, MA USA - [1-866-AMERESCO](tel:18662637372) - [Contact Us via Online Form](https://www.ameresco.com/contact-us/) - [Office Locations](https://www.ameresco.com/ameresco-office-locations/) - [Select Your Country](https://www.ameresco.com/select-your-country/) ### Press Releases [See all press releases](http://www.ameresco.com/press-releases/) ### STAY CONNECTED © Copyright 2026 - Ameresco | [Privacy Policy](https://www.ameresco.com/privacy-policy/) | [Terms and Conditions](https://www.ameresco.com/terms-and-conditions/) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Ameresco) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ameresco) - [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/user/Ameresco) [Back To Top](https://blog.ameresco.com/sacramento-business-journal-another-voice-advanced-energy-storage-technologies-must-be-the-new-normal#top)