Three Reasons Energy Utility Companies Are Looking To Increase And Improve Their Energy Storage Methods

If your local energy utility company has increased your rates, or has proposed to increase, one of the reasons given for this increase may be to use the increase to pay for research that helps to increase and improve upon their energy storage methods. This may leave you wondering if this is something that is really important to fund and why it is important to increase your energy rates to pay for energy storage improvements. Here are three of the reasons why energy utility companies are looking to increase and improve their energy storage methods and how it can be beneficial to you. 

Helps Utilize More of the Supplied Energy

One of the major benefits to increasing and improving energy storage methods is that less produced energy goes to waste. Energy is produced in a variety of ways, including solar power and wind power. Some days, more energy is produced than is used. If an energy company is able to store this energy, it means that that energy does not go to waste. Wasted energy costs the electricity company money, which in turn, is passed on to the consumer. The better the storage methods, the less wasted energy there is. 

Increases Rainy Day Reservoirs

Another benefit to increasing and improving energy storage methods for an electricity company is that it helps them to have a rainy day reserve, or an emergency amount of energy stored up. More energy is used in the summer months than in the winter months. This is why rolling blackouts are sometimes common during the summer months. If an electricity company is able to product electricity at high amounts in the winter, and then store it until the summer, they may be able to use that surplus to help prevent blackouts at peak times when energy usage is high. 

May Help to Decrease Energy Rates in the Future

The last benefit to utility companies increasing and improving their energy storage methods is that it may help to decrease your energy rates in the future. If an electricity company has the ability to produce high amounts of the cheapest forms of energy, they can store the energy that isn't used. For example, a utility company may be able to store high amounts of solar energy in the summer months when it is cheap and easy to produce. When the power is needed, they can sell the energy at a lower rate than using more expensive forms of energy. 

No one wants to see their utility bills increase. But if your energy utility company has proposed a rate hike to improve their energy storage methods, it may be beneficial to you both now and into the future.