Utility Arizona Public Service reaffirmed its commitment to grid batteries after a fire at one such facility injured four first responders.
The April 19 explosion at the McMicken facility prompted Arizona’s largest utility to power down its remaining energy storage plants, and raised questions about the future of this rapidly growing grid technology. APS committed in February to a considerable escalation of energy storage installations, to capture more solar power during the day and make it available at night.
The investigation to determine the cause of the fire is still underway, but APS is not giving up on those plans for battery expansion, President Jeff Guldner told Arizona regulators last week.
“As you know, we have moved forward and made an announcement as to work that we intend to pursue on battery storage,” Guldner said. “This hasn’t changed our determination to move forward on that.”
In February APS announced plans to deploy 850 megawatts of battery storage by 2025, the single largest storage procurement from a utility to date.
Indeed, the investigation will provide valuable information to ensure safe practices as that expansion proceeds, locally and nationally. “This is important because battery technology is such an important future component to the operation of the grid,” Guldner noted.
The full remarks, made at the April 23 meeting of the Arizona Corporation Commission, are visible on a public video recording (starting around 2:46:00).
The ACC similarly signaled that it sees batteries playing a larger role in the future of the state’s grid.
During the hearing, Commissioner Boyd Dunn made that point explicitly.
“I agree with your comment that batteries are our future,” he said. “Wherever you go, that’s going to be the talk.”
Recent Comments