Microgrids - Storage

For the grid! Utah storage company’s new feature promises resilience through microgrids

For the grid! Utah storage company’s new feature promises resilience through microgrids
The Torus Community feature ensures a customer's needs are met then allows for clean power to be shared directly with a wider community when the grid is in need (courtesy: Torus)

A Utah storage company is on the cutting edge of utilizing distributed energy to strengthen the power grid, and today they’re taking another step forward.

Torus has launched a ‘Community’ feature leveraging the company’s full-stack microgrid technology – a system that integrates energy production, storage, and management at or near the point of use. Available to both residential and commercial users in Utah, this feature transforms buildings into miniature power plants capable of supporting the grid during critical periods.

“With Torus Community, we’re tackling the challenge of distributed energy head-on,” said Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus. “This year alone, we’ve successfully responded to 89 demand response events with 99.99% uptime, far exceeding expectations for reliable, scalable, and secure infrastructure.”

The rollout of Community comes on the heels of more than a year of contributions to grid resilience from Torus customers involved in Rocky Mountain Power’s (RMP) Virtual Power Plant program. By demonstrating the benefits of community participation, Torus says it has built a symbiotic relationship between consumers and utility providers that enables a more stable and resilient grid and paves the way for more innovative, community-centric approaches to energy management.

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According to the company, features and benefits of Torus Community include:

  1. Real-time insights into how energy usage contributes to grid health.
  2. Significant reduction in power costs and carbon emissions for users.
  3. Support for corporate sustainability goals.
  4. Education on each participant’s role in creating a resilient energy ecosystem.

“We’ve moved from managing kilowatts to overseeing large-scale megawatts of energy storage and management,” Walkingshaw explained. “This shift illuminates the true potential of communities in supporting increasingly significant portions of the grid over time.”

Torus says its new ‘Community’ feature is “incredibly intelligent,” and keeps each customer’s home or business as the top priority, ensuring protection and resilience against unforeseen events, yet still contributing excess generation and stored energy to nearby places that need it.

“Torus serves as a powerful educational tool for both commercial and residential customers, demonstrating how each participant matters in the bigger picture of energy management,” continued Walkingshaw. “By visualizing their collective impact, customers gain a deeper understanding of their crucial role in creating a more sustainable and resilient energy ecosystem.”

There is growing interest in participating in virtual power plant programs, especially in Rocky Mountain Power territory, as offerings have expanded.

A U.S. Department of Energy report last year reasoned large-scale deployment of virtual power plants “could help address demand increases and rising peaks at lower cost than conventional resources, reducing the energy costs for Americans — one in six of whom are already behind on electricity bills.”

Another recent report by the Rocky Mountain Institute showed virtual power plants are an overlooked resource for advancing grid objectives. By 2030, VPPs could reduce peak demand in the United States by 60 GW, the report said, and could grow to more than 200 GW by 2050. In addition, VPPs could help reduce annual power sector expenditures by $35 billion in 2030.