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Your AC might have a battery in it soon

Battery storage is expanding faster than ever, helping to meet soaring electricity demand while reshaping the future of the power grid

Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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The grid is growing. Energy consumption by data centers alone grew 80% from 2020 to 2025, according to the International Energy Agency. Add in the steady march of electrification, from EVs to induction stoves, and utilities are staring down a demand curve they haven't seen in decades.

Utilities are struggling to keep up. New power plants take years to permit and build. Batteries, on the other hand, can be added to what's already there, faster and cheaper. That's turned batteries into the savior of the grid story right now, beating out solar, gas, and even nuclear. They're the thing making all the other power usable exactly when it's needed.

Grid-scale storage just had its best quarter ever. The U.S. installed almost 10 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity in the first quarter of 2026, up 32% from a........

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