California’s push to use only carbon-free electricity hinges on a big bet—that battery costs will plunge.
Lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a bill mandating that power generation come entirely from clean sources like wind and solar by 2045. But without cheap batteries, that could cause power prices to soar. That’s because it could spell the end for natural gas plants which currently generate about a third of the state’s electricity and are critical to keep the grid stable.
