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National Grid Partners

Today’s electrical grid faces a range of challenges. Extreme weather events, new consumer electrification initiatives, and the increasing popularity of electric vehicles can all lead to spikes in demand for energy. As a result, some circuits can experience significant annual imbalances, putting strain on the grid.

Increasing Capacity and Balancing the Electrical Grid with Switched Source

National Grid Partners, as the investment and innovation arm of National Grid, actively looks for solutions that can address these challenges and improve the reliability and resiliency of the power grid — particularly as we work to support more renewable energy and accelerate toward our goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Enter Switched Source, a startup whose solutions are designed to help distribution system operators better utilize infrastructure and increase capacity on the grid. Typically, when utilities face imbalances on the grid or need to increase capacity, they have had to install additional power lines, transformers, and other infrastructure and send engineers to make adjustments manually. These solutions can be costly and time-consuming, and it can be challenging for utilities to determine where to focus their resources.

“There are many requests for renewable interconnections in National’s Grid queue, and our customer loads are dynamic. We need to evaluate how and where to make upgrades or set adjustments based on the cost and effort required to add capacity to that specific location,” said Maxwell Smith, Lead Engineer in Reliability and New Technology at National Grid.

Switched Source’s Phase-EQ technology is designed to address this challenge. It uses patented power electronics that enable control of power flow between phases in a three-phase circuit, allowing it to help balance the electrical load automatically, in real time. Whereas traditional approaches might require manual changes, customer outages, or power quality devices with specific settings — all of which could require regulation or adjustment over months or years based on load changes or seasonal impacts — an automated platform can adjust itself according to changing conditions, mitigating the need for manual rebalancing efforts. Balancing the load on the grid can also increase the overall capacity, reducing the need for new infrastructure, which can be costly and time-consuming to install.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Assistant Director of Power Grid Innovation Hafiz Bello said, “Phase-EQ is an innovative technology that brings more renewable energy to the electric grid while enhancing electrification efforts such as vehicle charging. NYSERDA is proud to support this Switched Source project and work with National Grid Partners on the research and development that provides a clear pathway to bring reliable power to more New Yorkers.”

“Think of a town that sees an influx of people during tourist season, or an area that experiences extreme temperatures at certain times of the year. We may need to plan to install equipment only necessary during those rare peaks that could change over time. The Phase-EQ device can make adjustments automatically, mitigating issues seen from how demand for electricity may shift due to seasonal or demographic changes.”

National Grid Partners has been instrumental in helping to support this technology in its development and testing. Eliza Tortorella, Director of Business Development at National Grid Partners, thought the New York Asset Management and Engineering team would be interested in the Phase-EQ technology based on the alignment between their business needs and the proposed benefits of the device and connected them with Switched Source to review the new solution. The team was impressed with the potential of the Phase-EQ solution and provided a Letter of Support for Switched Source’s application for a grant from the NYSERDA, which was also enthusiastic about Switched Source’s newest solution. After Switched Source was awarded the grant in early Spring of 2023, the startup worked with National Grid on a pilot project, installing the Phase-EQ technology on-site in New York.

The pilot showed strong results, with the Phase-EQ unit helping to balance the load on the electrical grid and enabling the network to handle higher loads without the need for immediate upgrades. Switched Source estimates the Phase-EQ device could save more than $500,000 in capital expenses (such as installing new transformers) and increase load capacity by 1200kW — which is critical as National Grid works to support more electric vehicles and integrate renewable energy projects.

“Our mission is to support the reliability of the electrical grid and help operators accelerate the clean energy transition,” said Charles Murray, founder and CEO of Switched Source. “It’s really important to us that, by balancing load and increasing capacity, we’re helping to decarbonize the grid and enable the use of more electric vehicles and renewable energy.”

Following the success of the pilot project, National Grid has included a deployment program for the Switched Source Phase-EQ device in its rate case in New York for FY2026 and is exploring opportunities to deploy the Phase-EQ solution in other locations in New York and Massachusetts.

“We’re excited about the possibility of having another tool in the toolbox,” said Smith. “If a planner is looking at their regional network and seeing conditions that can cause imbalances on the grid, or a need to unlock additional capacity, this could be an advantageous alternative solution.”

Thanks to the engagement with National Grid, Switched Source is now transitioning out of the R&D phase and scaling up production. Over the last year, the company produced 10 Phase-EQ units. It recently moved into a 20,000-square foot manufacturing facility, however, and expects to produce hundreds of Phase-EQ units in the next few years.

“We love the support we’ve gotten from National Grid and NYSERDA. Now, it feels like things are going to step up fairly quickly over the next couple of years.”