Quote Originally Posted by Bueller View Post
If you really do work for a utility, you need to do a little more studying and research as to what’s going on in the industry, and particularly in the west where you live. If you do, you’ll find that utility scale grid storage projects are being built like crazy and the price is dropping like a rock. And, as you kinda sorta admitted, residential battery storage is a fast growing market and forecasts have it being on par or cheaper than solar in five years or so.

Also, I don’t believe for a second that your employer built a utility scale solar project just to look green and never bothered to hook it up. There are far, far too many watchdogs at every utility, including yours, and they would never allow that to happen or be swept under the rug. It might not yet be online and it may never be online, but there’s a reason and it’s not because they just don’t feel like it. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous.
Of course Bueller, give it the spin you wish. The storage facilities you speak of are are often being built on sites of decommissioned power plants that produced Gigawatts of power. The battery storage is a few hundred mega watts and only good for short term spikes in the grid. Please explain to everyone on this board how we’re going to replace the 5 or 6 gigawatts of power from recently decommissioned plants. Explain how the King in Sacramento is BEGGING PGE to stop decommissioning reactor 2 at Diablo Canyon til at least 2030 to give the state more time to replace its additional 2.2 GW of power. You are disingenuous when you state that the price is dropping like a rock. If you are talking rates, they are sky high. If you speak of cost to produce. Do your homework. Several of the latest storage facilities proposed in my area are on hold due to higher than Expected bids (SGE). Explain to everyone why residential battery (I support wholeheartedly) storage is a fast growing market. Not because people got smart and decided to use solar to be self reliant. Mention that the the state allowed the utility companies to change the rate structure for panel owners and the rate reductions are being phased out (believe it’s 8 years) and the state will subsidize the batteries instead of the rate reductions. That’s why the residential battery storage is booming.