California’s grid batteries unleashed a record 12.99 gigawatts on a single July evening, and what that number reveals about an infrastructure race already reshaping every power bill in the country

Most people picture the evening grid crunch as a natural gas problem. Demand is at its peak, and the grid has to find the power somewhere, fast. California’s battery fleet discharged a record 12.99 gigawatts of power. The battery storage record California just set, and the tax credit that made it possibleThe July 9 discharge record did not happen by accident. The phase-out of the investment tax credit for energy storage facilities does not begin until 2034.