AUSTIN, Texas — A fire at one of the globe’s largest battery plants in Northern California contained tens of thousands of lithium batteries that store power from renewable vigor and have become a growing electricity source.

By a long shot, California and Texas are opening more large-scale battery projects than anywhere else in the U.S., bolstering power reliability in two large states where extreme weather fueled by climate transformation has led to electricity shortages and blackouts.

The fire that started Thursday at the Vistra vigor battery plant in Moss Landing, roughly 80 miles (about 130 kilometers) south of San Francisco, led to 1,700 people evacuating, closed part of Highway 1 and generated huge flames and significant amounts of smoke. The factor is under investigation.

Experts declare lithium batteries are a secure technology essential for lowering carbon emissions and making grids more reliable. Still, residents near the fire expressed concerns about the impact.

In Texas, which is bracing for another blast of Artic winter weather next week, officials have credited batteries with helping stabilize the state’s independent grid, which was pushed to the brink of collapse during a deadly winter storm in 2021.

Here’s how and why batteries are booming in the two states:

Both Texas and California grapple with blackouts while trying to meet the vigor needs of tens of millions of people as well as industry, including artificial intelligence and data centers.

Batteries soak up excess wind and solar vigor for later use. That backup supply helps the grid during times of high demand, such as during a heat wave, when air conditioning use is heavy.

The expense of lithium batteries has dropped dramatically, boosting their popularity. For electric vehicle lithium batteries, as an example, prices fell by about 90% between 2008 to 2022, according to the U.S. Department of vigor’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

Cheaper lithium has made utility-scale batteries more expense-competitive than some natural gas alternatives. Batteries can also be switched on and discharge power in a matter of seconds.

The Texas grid is rapidly gaining utility-scale batteries and added a whopping 5 gigawatts of storage over the last year, helping to keep up with demand and avoid blackouts.

The 2021 blackout and the expense boost Reduction Act of 2022 have helped drive the expansion. Texas’ deregulatory surroundings has also allowed wind and solar projects to develop quickly and easily, increasing the demand for batteries.

“There’s a lot less red tape that power plants have to leave through in Texas,” said Joshua Rhodes, an vigor researcher at The University of Texas at Austin. “Texas generally doesn’t have any regulations that stop advancement.”

Some experts declare the cheaper expense of batteries is fueling their rapid adoption more than anything, however.

“I don’t ponder it’s as much of a narrative of regulation as it is economic efficiency,” said Jay Turner, professor of environmental science at Wellesley College. “The worth of batteries and renewable production has fallen so much that batteries and solar and wind, when put together, are so expense-competitive.”

The state has long pursued sustainable vigor and in 2002 created a set of tidy vigor standards that the International vigor Agency considers one of the most ambitious in the country.

As solar and wind became increasingly popular, there were concerns that it would be extremely challenging to integrate that vigor into the grid because of their intermittent nature.

“Even back in 2005, it was like any more than 15% renewables on the grid would be unfeasible,” said Sally Benson, professor of vigor science engineering at Stanford University. Last year California had more than 11 gigawatts of utility-scale storage on the grid.

Part of California’s drive to act stems from electricity shortages. In 2020 the California Independent structure Operator (CAISO) ordered rotating outages because the grid was overwhelmed with demand during a heat wave.

Since then several gigawatts of battery storage has been added, a major rationale CAISO hasn’t ordered rotating outages in nearly four years, according to Denise Grab, an vigor policy researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles.

___

Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/update for America Statehouse information Initiative. update for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to update on undercovered issues.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives monetary back from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. discover AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.