“Batteries are increasingly usurping gas as the primary balancing technology for intraday variability in renewable generation,” said Sahaj Sood, an analyst at BloombergNEF. It didn’t hurt that gas prices halved at the same time. Meanwhile, in the gas reservation debate, the Stokes’ outfits are full of it. Australia’s biggest industrial gas users have urged Labor to resist mounting pressure from LNG exporters and press ahead with its proposed domestic gas reservation scheme, arguing cheaper domestic gas is critical to protecting manufacturing jobs and restoring the country’s industrial competitiveness. …Construction materials giant Boral warned the reservation framework, while well intentioned, risked undermining the investment needed to increase long-term gas supply.