CANBY, Oregon -- Josh Adams’ wide-ranging karaoke repertoire surprisingly does not include “I’ve Been Everywhere,” the geography checklist tune popularized by Johnny Cash and others and featured in various TV commercials.
Adams crisscrosses the U.S. for NextEra Energy Resources to help develop battery energy storage projects, appearing at planning and zoning meetings, conditional use permit hearings and other local government gatherings from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona to Georgia to Wisconsin.
Meeting the growing demand for electricity is a national concern that has drawn the interest of policymakers in Washington, D.C., and in state capitals across the U.S. But it’s also very much a local issue as landowners and county commissions and community leaders determine the best places to put the infrastructure needed to bring power to the people.
Adams, an engineering manager, spends about three weeks a month on the road visiting those communities to help guide battery energy storage projects through the local approval process.
Oregon native Adams enjoys disc golf, paddleboarding and other water recreation when he’s home. He studied at Portland Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a Master’s in renewable energy engineering at the Oregon Institute of Technology.
While he loves Oregon, much of his work focus is elsewhere.
“We try to be good stewards of the communities we serve,” Adams says of his travels. “I’ve always wanted to have a positive impact, and that starts locally.”
In addition to being a world leader in generating electricity from a variety of sources, NextEra Energy Resources is a leader in battery energy storage systems, operating about 50 sites across the U.S. and Canada with 3.6 GWh of storage.
Battery energy storage is an important component in the energy mix, ensuring a continuous supply of energy, stabilizing the grid, enhancing resilience against power outages and reducing reliance on fossil fuel.
“Batteries enable you to not waste energy. They are necessary to properly optimize the renewable energy assets that we have,” says Adams.
Battery energy storage systems increase the reliability of the grid by storing energy when demand is low and releasing it when demand is high. The projects generate tax revenue for local communities to help support roads, schools and other vital services.
The deployment of battery energy systems has increased dramatically in recent years as technological advances drive costs down.
“It’s exciting,” Adams says, “to be involved on the ground floor with a technology that is growing and advancing.”
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