THE SET-UP: California has a long, often sordid history of rolling blackouts that began at the turn of the century with the Enron Scandal.
That’s when the die was cast.
California has spent the better part of the last quarter century as the poster child for green energy boondoggles that produce nothing but false promises and rolling blackouts. Just last year, President Trump rolled out the poster during one of his diatribes against Joe Biden and California’s climate conscious energy mix:
“They want to go all electric,” Trump said while criticizing the Biden administration, “even though we don’t have enough electricity to cool down California in the summers. Did you see, they had blackouts all over the place this summer? It was a disaster. The winter’s no good … the whole thing is crazy. ‘Let’s go all electric, but we don’t have enough electric to take care of somebody’s air conditioner in California.’”
There’s just one problem.
It isn’t true.
In fact, as KABC reported today, it is the inverse of the truth:
California has not needed to issue a Flex Alert in nearly four years, a development officials attribute largely to significant growth in battery storage capacity that has strengthened the state’s power grid.
Four years. And not just any four years … it’s been four increasingly hotter years marked by prolonged heatwaves. But that hasn’t bedeviled the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) despite a 20,000 megawatt increase in peak demand over the last five years. The reason why they’ve avoided rolling blackouts is clear:
“Batteries are really the story here,” said Jayme Ackemann of CAISO. “In the last five years, we’ve added more than 17,000 megawatts of battery storage.”
Ackemann said batteries play a critical role during the early evening hours, when solar generation begins to decline as the sun sets while electricity demand increases as people return home.
“We say between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. It really is a rolling timeframe where people are arriving home from work and beginning to turn on things in their home,” Ackemann said. “For example, they lower their air conditioning if it’s been a hot day.”
Well, whaddaya know?
Solar power stored on batteries is there at the end of the day for Californians who want to crank up the air when they get home from work.
Sorry, Donald J Quixote … but the windmills you are tilting at in vain are not for losers. Like California’s potent combo of solar and the batteries, windpower is winning in places like Texas and Iowa. Even better, the global move to renewables has re-accelerated since he started a war of choice against Iran.
The disruption did not bring the world to America’s ports to buy its oil and gas. The world has decided to take control over its energy future and not remain beholden to the US-OPEC Axis, which has preoccupied America’s costly military for decades. To wit, the International Energy Agency just reported the impact of the war, which they say “thoroughly upended…global outlook for oil consumption.”
This comes a year after its rosy assessment of oil’s projected dominance over the next decade. Buoyed by Trump’s attack on renewables, the agency predicted rising demand into the 2030s. Now, according the Reuters, the agency “predicts an 80,000 bpd drop in demand growth this year.” Amazingly, a projected “1.5 million bpd drop in demand in the second quarter of 2026 would mark the deepest contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Declining demand is the oil industry’s worst nightmare. Now a combination of high cost and a surplus of attractive, often cheaper alternatives appears to be eroding that demand … and significantly so.
Donald J. Quixote hasn’t buried his lance in the heart of renewable energy … he’s shot himself in the foot.
The US built more grid batteries last quarter than ever before
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/batteries/us-built-more-grid-batteries
Trump emergency order casts uncertainty over grid battery growth
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/batteries/trump-emergency-order-grid-battery-growth
Aurora Report Maps the Role of Battery Storage in Solving America’s AI Data Center Power Challenge
https://auroraer.com/company/press-room/aurora-report-maps-the-role-of-battery-storage-in-solving-americas-ai-data-center-power-challenge
Google to buy energy from solar-storage project at former coal mine
https://www.facilitiesdive.com/news/google-to-buy-energy-from-solar-storage-project-at-former-coal-mine/829849/
GM, Ford Turn EV Battery Bust Into Energy Storage Bet
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/GM-Ford-Turn-EV-Battery-Bust-Into-Energy-Storage-Bet.html
Volvo plans 70-MW/260-MWh BESS energy park in Sweden
https://renewablesnow.com/news/volvo-plans-70-mw260-mwh-bess-energy-park-in-sweden-1301025/
Norwegian company launches largest U.S. battery storage project in South Texas
https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/equinor-citrus-flatts-battery-harlingen-texas-22417786.php
Lubbock battery energy storage system building now, what to know
https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/business/2026/09/10/lubbock-battery-project-aims-to-lower-energy-costs-bess/91510927007/
Mexico plans 2.2 GW of battery storage for state utility by 2030
https://www.ess-news.com/2026/09/10/mexico-plans-2-2-gw-of-battery-storage-for-state-utility-by-2030/
Wind giant gets green light to plug batteries into turbines at 300 MW project, deliver an Australian first
https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-giant-gets-green-light-to-plug-batteries-into-turbines-build-australias-first-grid-scale-wind-storage-hybrid/
Tavion starts development of its first battery parks in Poland
https://renewablesnow.com/news/volvo-plans-70-mw260-mwh-bess-energy-park-in-sweden-1301025/
Romanian company to build battery storage at Iron Gate II plant
https://ceenergynews.com/renewables/romania-battery-storage-iron-gate-ii/
India-Finland Partnership for Green Hydrogen and Battery Tech
https://www.mvapulse.com/india-finland-partnership-for-green-hydrogen-and-battery-tech/
Island Green gets nod to build 500-MW Scottish battery
https://renewablesnow.com/news/island-green-gets-nod-to-build-500-mw-scottish-battery-1300905/
Spain’s renewables experience shows battery storage needed for decarbonization
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2026/09/08/energy/spain-renewables-battery-revolution/