A new Horowitz Research survey has found that as more extreme weather events ramp up, homeowners in states subject to the worst mother nature has to offer have expressed greater interest in battery back-up systems as a panacea.
According to the study, commissioned by EcoFlow, 91% of combined homeowners from California, Texas and Florida worry about the impacts of extreme weather, rising energy costs and power grid instability.
Overall, 60% of homeowners think their electric bill is too high while 74% anticipate electricity costs will increase soon. Among those, 75% are looking for ways to lower it.
Energy experts also expect energy costs to rise in the coming years as AI data center buildouts and factory onshoring add to the grid’s power demand.
Californians by far express the most interest in battery back-up solutions, with 79% of homeowners in the survey expressing interest in the survey.
The Southern California Wildfires this past winter causing roughly $250 billion in damages with many custom integrators in the region being heavily impacted by the events.
Florida, too, has seen its own share of weather-related disasters such as in 2022 when Hurricane Ian devastated the Florida coastline.
One of the major stories that came out of the disaster was how Babcock Ranch, a community built with grid resilience in mind, managed to come out relatively unscathed.
While Tesla was the most recognized name to those responding to the survey, 24% of those people have expressed a disinterest in ever using the brand personally, citing the polarizing nature of the brand now as well as its unreliability in recent years.
In the custom integration space, companies like Rosewater Energy have ramped up their education efforts for dealers looking to begin installing battery back-up system. Savant has likewise ramped up their energy offerings with more scalable solutions.
Utilities too have begun leaning more into providing energy storage solutions to homeowners with National Grid most recently instituting a battery program for solar users.
However, a major catalyst to battery storage adoption, the clean energy credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act are now at risk of being eliminated via budget cuts present in the forthcoming “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Regardless, 60% of respondents to the survey said they wish to become less dependent on grid power with 70% also saying that having a back-up solution is important. It also found that 70% either currently or plan to own a solar battery back-up solution in the future.
