The Curious Case of L.A.’s Missing Batteries
By Arushi Goyal
The L.A. Department of Water and Power promises to lead the way to an affordable, clean energy future. Yet for three years it has sat idle while other utilities embraced a promising technology.
Around the world, from Sydney, Australia, to Austin, Texas, there’s one climate-friendly technology that almost everyone suddenly seems to love: home batteries. Environmentalists prize their ability to hold onto clean solar energy for use after dark. Engineers value them as a low-cost tool to strengthen the electric grid. Homeowners like being able to keep the lights on and the fridge running during blackouts.
And yet—as battery sales spike in sunny cities around the globe—here in Southern California there is one giant exception to the battery boom: the city of Los Angeles, where home batteries remain as rare as rain in July.
