For years, rooftop solar was overlooked as a reliability solution in New England. But in a very sudden reversal, the region's grid operator says it’s critical to keeping the lights on across the region.
New England doesn't have its own fossil resources, so the region is dependent on oil and natural gas imported from other regions of the country. Over the last decade and a half, aging coal, nuclear, and oil-fired units have been retired there. Because of interconnection constraints and lots of NIMBYism, gas has mostly filled in the gap – not utility-scale renewables. 
But distributed solar is suddenly providing a benefit for the New England system operator that will help it close an aging, expensive gas power plant remains open for reliability reasons. 
This week, we'll talk with reporter Ben Storrow about his reporting on the value of solar. First, we'll look at what's changed in New England. Then we'll turn our attention to Texas, where renewables have been critical for managing the grid during a sweltering summer that has brought record-breaking power demand.
This podcast is brought to you by KORE Power, an American manufacturer of battery cells for electric vehicles and stationary storage. Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a conversation with KORE CEO Lindsay Gorrill about how America can slash its dependence on imported critical minerals and batteries.
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