The world is currently suffering an energy crisis driven by high temperatures, the war in Ukraine, and a removal of baseload power generation. States like California have faced rolling blackouts and calls from the state for citizens to not charge their electric vehicles. To address this issue, states should adopt the use of microgrids to increase power generation and provide in times of emergency.
Most states have a monopoly power company that serves a geographic area such as Entergy in parts of Louisiana or PG&E in California. Outside of a lack of competition for consumers, much of the current grid infrastructure has been pushed to a breaking point by recent spikes in energy demands. Microgrids operate outside this structure, providing energy —usually in the form of renewables or clean energy sources —to the small subset of the population or industrial zones that is not connected to the larger power company. Microgrids provide choice to consumers and increase power generation for the state and country as a whole which can be tapped into by the local grid in times of need.