Batteries and the Grid: Economic Reality vs. Renewable Aspirations | NCEA

A PJM-based analysis finds a wind-solar-battery grid is physically implausible and cost-prohibitive—costing ratepayers over $4 trillion, roughly six times a natural gas and nuclear system. - Jonathan Lesser, PhD/Mitchell Rolling

• At the beginning of 2026, total U.S. grid-scale battery storage could supply roughly 15 minutes of average national electricity demand.
• Modeling PJM's system through 2045 found that a renewables-only grid would need roughly tenfold more generating capacity than a natural gas and nuclear alternative.
• Under that renewables-only scenario, total costs paid by PJM ratepayers over the next 20 years would exceed $4 trillion, even after savings on fossil fuels...