How Investors Can Play The One Clear Winner From Texas’ Electric Grid Collapse: Battery Storage

How Investors Can Play The One Clear Winner From Texas’ Electric Grid Collapse: Battery Storage

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas did not live up to its name last week. And although daytime high temperatures in Houston have already returned to their regularly scheduled 70 degrees, the impact of the deep freeze lingers on in busted water pipes, empty store shelves and long lines at gas stations. Along with the plumbers working through their massive backlogs, there will be another big winner that emerges from the ice storm: batteries. 

As politicians wangle over how to reform ERCOT and the Texas power grid to withstand a future freeze, expect Texans to take matters into their own hands. There will plenty of new sales of more traditional natural gas-powered backup generators; leading manufacturer Generac reported a surge of new interest from homeowners last week. But expect bigger interest in systems that can work all year around, combining solar panels and battery storage. Houston-based Sunnovais offering home solar systems with battery storage at 0% finance rates and no downpayment. Competitor Sunpower offers home systems that include integration with an A.I.-informed smartphone app that enables a homeowner to sell excess solar power from their batteries back into the grid. "Storage is coming down in cost as fast as solar did,“