MSN
Summary
To blunt the cost of buying power during demand spikes, Austin Energy is expanding battery storage at both ends of the scale, from massive installations spread across fields of shipping containers to units placed in customers' homes.
With the brutal Texas heat increasing pressure on the grid, those batteries could limit blackouts and soften abrupt jumps in power prices for the city and individual residents.
Pat Sweeney, Austin Energy vice president of energy market operations, said the value of batteries is that the company can buy and hold low-cost electricity ahead of time, then release it to the grid during pricier periods.
"They function effectively like a power plant, except their fuel is energy off the grid," Sweeney said, per the newspaper.
Continue Reading
#MemberNewsIDEA#AustinEnergy#BatteryStorage