Apartment A/C batteries: simple & fast demand reduction

From AP, a story that shows an easy and effective way to reduce peak demand: give renters with window unit air conditioners a remote-controllable battery.

“It’s basically a souped up version of the power bank that you would use to charge your phone when you go out,” said Andrew Wang, the chief executive officer of Every Electric, the company behind the pilot, which has partnered with [New York City’s] energy company Con Edison.

The devices, about the size of a microwave, charge when electricity demand is low and then run window AC units for a few hours when demand spikes.

This particular approach doesn’t solve everything, but it’s a great example of the kind of simple innovation that could be quickly deployed, at modest cost, and make a big difference. We don’t have to wait for big, uncertain bets like nuclear, or even for the time and expense of giant clean energy projects. This kind of adaptation can happen as fast as anyone – companies, governments, nonprofits, hyperscalers, whoever – can throw money at it.