Op-Ed: Who needs renewable energy mandates when new battery technology is making solar energy storage in AZ more viable?
An opinion piece by Andy Tobin, former (R) Speaker of the House in Arizona, details how a surge of interest in battery energy storage projects in Arizona, especially those built alongside large-scale solar facilities, is both good regional economic and market forces at work.
The basic premise:
Markets that have more choice and competition are better for consumers.
The energy market is no different.
In the past, our choices were mostly limited to a handful of fuels — coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectricity.
But the falling cost of renewable electricity — a roughly 60% to 80% reduction, in the case of wind and solar — has given power companies and consumers more options to choose from.
Now, another technology is entering the marketplace — the battery energy storage system — and Arizona is playing a leading role in its wider adoption.