California’s Battery Array Is as Powerful as 12 Nuclear Power Plants. Here’s What’s on the Horizon
By Claire Barber, Inside Climate News.
Excerpt: SAN FRANCISCO ...in late March ...For the first time, California discharged just over 12,000 megawatts, equivalent to 12 large nuclear plants, of energy from its battery arrays. That’s enough to meet over 40 percent of the state’s energy demand. ...While more than more than 60 percent of the state’s electricity generation came from carbon-free sources last year, momentum toward bridging the last gap is fraught, as President Trump takes aim at offshore wind, orders oil pipelines to reopen and retires renewable energy tax credits. ...[Ed] SMELOFF: Interestingly, the Trump administration has been supportive of batteries and the [One Big Beautiful Bill] ....continued the investment tax credit for batteries through 2032. ...the war on Iran...reinforces the understanding that fossil fuels are volatile, insecure, vulnerable to these international disruptions, so it makes sense to continue to develop renewable resources and to electrify the economy and particularly electric vehicles, so there’s less dependence on fossil fuels. ...the Valley Clean Infrastructure Project, VCIP...[21] gigawatts...would be a doubling of the solar energy that’s already online in California....