The US built more grid batteries last quarter than ever before

The U.S. added more grid-scale battery storage in the second quarter of this year than in any quarter before, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. These are large batteries utilities and developers build to store power when it's plentiful and release it when demand spikes, not the kind you'd install at home. From April through June, developers built 20.2 gigawatt-hours of storage, about a tenth of all grid battery capacity in the country, with seven individual projects each topping 1 gigawatt-hour. Nearly half of the new capacity was paired with solar plants.

This growth matters for homeowners mainly because of what it means for grid reliability and prices in the years ahead. Batteries are being built quickly in places where the power grid is stretched thin, including California, Texas, the Southeast, the mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast. More storage capacity generally helps keep the lights on during peak demand and can ease pressure on electricity prices, since it lets utilities rely less on expensive backup power plants during the highest-demand hours.

The federal government has kept tax incentives for batteries in place even after cutting support for wind and solar, and the current administration has funded several storage projects, including one in Puerto Rico and an iron-air battery project in Maine. Analysts now expect even more battery construction through 2030 than they predicted just three months ago.