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.