Americans in states like California and Texas are tapping into an exciting new way to use more clean energy and rely less on polluting fossil fuels.
The key? Massive batteries that can store solar and wind power for when it's needed most, as the New York Times recently covered.
Over the past three years, the number of these game-changing batteries connected to the electricity grid has grown by 10 times. And this year, that capacity is expected to nearly double again, with Texas, California, and Arizona leading the charge, per the Times.
Resembling giant shipping containers, the batteries work by soaking up excess solar and wind energy when it's plentiful, like during sunny or windy days.
Then, they release that carbon-free electricity back to the grid in the evenings, when energy demand spikes but solar and wind power drop off.
The increase in battery storage is allowing more and more Americans to power their lives with clean energy around the clock — while also helping to create a safer, more resilient electricity grid that's less vulnerable to outages during extreme weather.
For example, during a record-breaking heat wave last summer, batteries helped keep the lights on and AC running for millions of Texans by providing extra juice when people needed it most. In California, batteries are already reducing how much climate-disrupting gas is burned to generate electricity, with the state on track to triple its battery capacity by 2035.
"What's happening in California is a glimpse of what could happen to other grids in the future," Helen Kou, an energy expert at research firm BloombergNEF, told the Times. "Batteries are quickly moving from these niche applications to shifting large amounts of renewable energy toward peak demand periods."
One problem, the Times reported, is that batteries are often charged using power from fossil fuels "because operators focus on maximizing revenue." Variable pricing and the newness of renewable energy can often cause that. But as Andrés Gluski, head of global power company AES Corporation, told the Times: "If you want more renewables on the grid, you need more batteries. It's not going to work otherwise."
By expanding battery storage — especially through battery networks dedicated to solar or wind farms — and increasing the reach of clean energy as a whole, states and power providers can make it easier than ever for Americans to ditch dirty pollution. All while building a more affordable, dependable energy system that can weather whatever the future brings. Now that's a win-win.
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