The Glasgow Electric Plant Board, a municipally owned utility, chose to install Sunvergy Energy’s smart energy storage solution to reduce emissions during times of peak demand for its customers in southern Kentucky. With Sunvergy Energy’s devices, the utility will offset carbon emissions by 25%.
The Glasgow Electric Plant Board serves a town of 14,000. By installing Sunverge systems in 165 homes, the utility provides utility-grade storage at individual homes along with the software “in the cloud” for power management. The devices will capture power from the electric grid at night or when demand and cost are lower. When demand peaks and costs are higher, the utility will order the batteries to release that power and distribute it to its customers, reducing the need to supply additional power from traditional generating plants.
"While many of our installations are in tandem with the use of solar panels, our technology offers the same reliability, cost savings and emissions reductions regardless of the source of the power,” said Ken Munson, co-founder and CEO of Sunverge Energy. “Glasgow is a pioneer and should serve as a model for other utilities that serve rural or isolated communities, where intelligent storage can play an important role when generation options are limited and where there are frequent weather-related power disruptions."
In addition to reducing the emissions that would be created by peak generation at those plants, the Sunverge systems also reduce the cost of generating that power, resulting in savings to customers. The installations also have the potential to provide a reliable source of backup electric power to customers should storms or other events disrupt service on the grid.