Visions for a Resilient Energy System

Participants in this study see a role for a diversity of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) options to improve energy resilience – ranging in scale from individual household solutions (e.g., generators, rooftop solar and batteries) to the sharing of household DER and community-scale solutions (e.g., microgrids).  

Many people are interested in household DER because they offer energy independence and self-sufficiency. Being less reliant on the main grid and energy companies is seen as one way of being more resilient. 

we very much preferred the ability to fend for ourselves and not be dependent on the grid

However, this vision of a decentralised energy system may also deepen inequities across society, as some people are unable to access or afford DER and may have to pay more to maintain the electricity grid as others get less of their electricity from it. 

Some people see sharing DER and other resources – whether informally or more formally through models such as microgrids – as another way of being more resilient. This can mean that there is a greater quantity and diversity of DER options that a community can draw on for essential energy services. 

in our town when the flood happened, there was one house in our street that had access to a generator, there was another house that had a gas stove, there was another house that had a solar hot water, so we all shared those resources in our little street

Microgrids are seen as decentralised solutions that strike a balance between a scenario in which all households disconnect from the grid – which is not considered realistic – and the status quo of dependence on the conventional grid – which is perceived to be too vulnerable in extreme weather events due to its size.  

Obviously everyone can’t go off the grid and we need to also support our communities in our towns in a way that we can have an efficient way of delivering energy. But […] we need to go to micro rather than macro with our energy supplies even for our towns because of natural disasters, because […] you get cut off and the power supply is disrupted for everybody rather than if that small community could run its own power supply

The design and management of microgrids can pose challenges, particularly with respect to how access to energy is distributed among households within the community and how contributions to the microgrid through household DER installation are divided among households. For example, this could involve questions about how access to energy is allocated among households within the community, where some households, such as those with unwell, elderly or very young residents, may have particular needs. It might also involve reaching an agreement about how energy should be used while the microgrid is operating during an outage. 

You would write into your microgrid contract that in effect [if] we do get a microgrid for a prolonged period of time, i.e. the bushfire, is that everyone will go and congregate at Frank’s house because Frank’s got air conditioning, and that’s where we’re going to sit. Instead of running nine air conditioners, we’ll just run the one and everyone will just be there

A sense of community in responding to power outages is highly valued by many people, but local communities can have dynamics and divisions that mean that models of sharing energy locally may not benefit everyone fairly or reflect everyone’s preferences. 

These visions of household and community energy resilience focus on the local as the best scale to build resilience. But it is clear that these usually depend in part on support from beyond the local community. Which of these energy resilience options is most appropriate and feasible will depend in part on the extent to which capacity and resources are available to support them.  

Depending on the specific circumstances, the energy resilience priorities of communities may or may not align with those of the DNSPs and other stakeholders that are supporting community solutions such as microgrids.