Battery and Solar Costs Are Still Falling Fast -- and Decision-Makers Are Using Woefully Old Data

Battery and Solar Costs Are Still Falling Fast—and Decision-Makers Are Using Woefully Old Data

In this week’s Interchange episode: what the Puente natural gas plant tells us about data limitations in energy policy.

Stephen Lacey September 06, 2017

Stephen Lacey

Contributing Editor
Greentech Media

Stephen Lacey is a contributing editor with Greentech Media. He is also the founder and executive producer of Post Script Media. Lacey produces and hosts The Energy Gang and Interchange podcasts, two of the most popular podcasts on energy and cleantech.

It's difficult to keep up with cost and performance trends for technologies like batteries and solar PV. It's particularly hard for regulators and policymakers, who often rely on outdated analysis.

The latest example comes from California, where the California Independent System Operator is using three-year-old data on battery and solar costs as it evaluates alternatives to a natural gas peaker plant.

The cost of lithium-ion batteries and solar PV have come down precipitously since then. So why are regulators using such ancient data to make this crucial decision?

This is not an isolated incident.

In this episode, we talk about the questionable analysis behind the Puente natural gas plant in Southern California. We'll also discuss some other examples of faulty data being used for energy-planning decisions. Finally, we'll speculate on some possible solutions to the chronic problem.