but on Thursday, some battery operators were concerned about the state's plans to regulate the industry.
Officials are pointing to batteries as the future when it comes to keeping the lights on when emergency situations stretch the grid. When power plants go offline and renewables, like wind and solar, are struggling, battery storage might be the future of protecting the Texas power grid."We held up our side. Will ERCOT hold up the other?" Eolian LP COO Stephani Smith said.
"This is like the government mandating a car have a 50-gallon tank for gas, but never allowing the fuel tank to go below half empty. The extra cost and weight are not valuable since the extra gas is not used," Smith explained."As a Texan, I grew up thinking over-regulation stifles market fundaments that allows that innovation. That is a core Texas value and I think 1186 runs afoul of that value," Smith said.