California and Texas lead US battery storage growth, but with different approaches

With RE+ coming up fast, this article from Amit Mathrani, energy transition specialist at Rabobank North America does a fantastic job of looking at the US #energystorage market through the lens of its two leading states: California and Texas. "California and Texas share the same headline: double-digit-gigawatt battery fleets built in record time. However, the mechanics behind that growth could not be further apart. CAISO’s 12.5GW of operating BESS is the product of a policy-catalysed glide path: mid-term reliability mandates such as the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) 15.5GW of clean capacity by 2027, a 4-hour resource adequacy standard that underpins long-term offtake contracts, and interconnection reforms that now screen projects for site control and deliverability before they enter detailed study. By Contrast, ERCOT’s 10GW of operating capacity has been built almost entirely without mandates, capacity payments, or federal oversight. Early projects were mostly 1-hour systems chasing ancillary service revenue. Currently, the fleet averages 1.5-2 hours, and the queue mix is expected to shift toward 4-hour duration ahead of the Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service (DRRS) launch in ERCOT in 2026 to compensate resources that can provide at least four hours of continuous energy during emergency conditions, supporting system stability without requiring formal capacity obligations. For investors, the divergence frames a strategic spectrum: from California’s contract-anchored, lower-beta returns to Texas’s volatility-driven, higher-beta upside. Understanding where a new market will sit on that spectrum is now the opening question in any storage diligence process." https://lnkd.in/gjTwgExy

While the recent focus around the National Electricity Market (NEM) has been on the Federal Government’s Expert Panel, an equally important review on the reliability standard has also been underway. In June, the Reliability Panel (The Panel) published an issues paper to initiate the 2026 Reliability Standard and Settings Review. These underlying market settings remain key to a well-functioning NEM and will work hand-in-hand with the Expert Panel’s recommendations. For this week's Energy Pulse, the AEC's GM of Wholesale and Environment, David Feeney, takes a look at the reliability review, some of the areas in our submission to that process as well as the rationale behind our position. https://lnkd.in/e2E5GA57

Distributed Energy Resources (#DERs) are rapidly evolving from emergency backups to essential components of the energy grid. Two recent milestones show why: 1. California’s Demand Side Grid Support (#DSGS) program is scaling residential batteries to ~700 MW in 2025, with projections to reach 1,300 MW by 2028. In a recent test, 100,000 homes delivered 539 MW at peak demand, underscoring both the scale and value of distributed batteries as dependable capacity and a cost-effective alternative to traditional peakers. 2. Voltus reports its #VirtualPowerPlant assets are now dispatched every single day of the year, with emergency calls rising sharply in 2025. These dispatches are increasingly smart, targeted, and demonstrate the reliability of DERs as always-on, responsive resources balancing intermittent resources. Read the full articles here: https://lnkd.in/e4_g6z4Q https://lnkd.in/dYa5wPjv https://lnkd.in/dE3Tzk7P #VPP #EnergyStorage #GridReliability #Simcore

SPP launches Expedited Resource Adequacy Study (ERAS) to fast-track grid reliability: The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has launched its Expedited Resource Adequacy Study (ERAS), a crucial step to address near-term reliability challenges and accelerate new generation additions to the grid. What you need to know: - One-time process: ERAS is a separate, one-time study to meet anticipated resource adequacy needs for 2030, bypassing the standard interconnection queue. - Technology-neutral: While the process is technology-neutral, gas-fired plants and battery storage are expected to be key beneficiaries, given their capabilities to be brought online quickly and balance the grid. - A bridge to the future: This initiative serves as a bridge solution, mitigating acute reliability risks while the industry continues to develop broader, longer-term interconnection reforms. As demand for electricity grows and the generation mix evolves, ensuring grid reliability and stability is paramount. ERAS provides a much-needed, innovative solution to bring new resources online faster.   #SPP #ERAS #GridReliability #EnergyTransition #EnergyStorage #GasGeneration #EnergyIndustry #FERC

Last week, in my home state of Texas, regulators approved two new gas plants near Houston, with a hard cap on costs to limit what shows up on customer bills. On one hand, this is a logical step to protect ratepayers. There is real pressure to add reliable capacity quickly while also keeping rates affordable. But gas plants are long-term commitments, and they may not align with grid modernization and decarbonization strategies that will be deployed over the next couple of decades. In other states, utilities and regulators are experimenting with demand flexibility programs as alternatives to new fossil capacity. California’s Demand Side Grid Support program has leaned on demand response and virtual power plants to help the grid get through summer peaks. In Vermont, Green Mountain Power is building flexible capacity through customer participation in home battery and EV programs. And in New York, regulators encourage utilities to review non-wires alternatives before investing in new infrastructure. These approaches are not perfect, but they often deliver capacity faster and at lower cost than a new fossil plant. Cost caps are one way to protect customers. Pairing them with requirements for utilities to invest in demand flexibility programs may be a smarter way to balance today’s reliability needs with tomorrow’s clean energy future. Read more on the Texas decision here: https://lnkd.in/eEUTSWQr #Utilities #GridModernization #CleanEnergy

There’s been a lot of discussion around how to plan for EV load growth and how new investments in grid capacity will impact electricity rates. Our new study digs further into these issues, highlighting a number of areas across several case study utilities where grid capacity is likely to be constrained in the next few years. We also explore how more proactive, longer-term grid investments may compare to traditional capacity upgrades in terms of ratepayer impacts. Our findings indicate that targeted proactive investments can result in long-term cost savings, improved grid reliability, and a reduced risk of interconnection bottlenecks — especially when combined with managed charging. Big shoutout to the team leading this work, Aradhana Gahlaut, Jeffrey Sward, PhD, Gabriella Broga, Athindra Venkatraman, Diego Angel Hakim, and Becky Xilu Li, and Kirill Tchernyshyov. https://lnkd.in/epkqhCMf

The electric grid has long been the only critical infrastructure without a buffer. It's a "just-in-time" system where supply must match demand every second, leading to costly overbuilding and instability. This is rapidly changing. As this article from Works In Progress explains (https://lnkd.in/gKSmU5Fq) batteries are finally providing the missing "inventory" for our grid. The chart below shows how—by absorbing excess renewable power and discharging it later, batteries create a smooth, reliable supply from intermittent sources. The article's analysis of the Texas ERCOT grid provides that in 2024: 🔹 With more batteries online, real-time wholesale prices dropped from $97/MWh to $28/MWh during the summer.  🔹 During peak hours (6-9pm), when batteries discharge the most, wholesale prices plummeted from $332/MWh to just $80/MWh. 🔹 For handling short-lived demand peaks, batteries are already more economical than traditional methods, costing about half as much as a new gas peaker plant per megawatt hour. Grid transformation won’t happen without a massive scale-up of advanced energy storage. That’s why companies like Lyten are pushing battery innovation forward. #EnergyStorage #Batteries #GridModernization #RenewableEnergy #Innovation #Sustainability #Lyten

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) will be an essential element of future grids: they will contribute to the stabelization of our systems and make them more cost effecient.

As the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)’s 2025 Reliability Risk Priorities report underscores, the electric grid is facing multifaceted change, from emerging large loads and evolving resource mixes to heightened security risks and supply chain uncertainty. At NEMA, we believe the path forward lies in harmonizing innovation, standards, and industrial capability. Our member companies are delivering the advanced electrical equipment, secure infrastructure, and resilient delivery solutions we need. To translate ambition into reliability, policymakers and planners must support stable policy, robust standards, and coordinated cross-sector planning. https://lnkd.in/eQdy-nhh

In this week’s WDEA Newsletter: ·        Utilities Plan for Rising Power Demand ·        Christmann: Data Centers Can Strain the Grid ·        ND Prepares to 'Future-Proof' Electric Grid ·        Burgum Talks Energy Dominance with Hennen ·        School Trust Fund Surges Past $7.5 Billion ·        Landowner Challenge of CO2 Storage to Proceed Read the details and more at: https://lnkd.in/g-QJytTX