I listened to this episode from the a16Z podcast episode on America’s energy infrastructure, and while it came from a venture/tech perspective, a few points really stuck with me:
Batteries need to be everywhere.
Not just for EVs or backup, but for grid resilience, flexible load management, and even national security. They called out that most U.S. battery supply chains still run through China, and that’s a strategic vulnerability we haven’t addressed.
Distributed infrastructure is the future.
More generation, storage, and load co-located in one place. Think data centers with their own power, or neighborhoods with solar and batteries that don’t rely as heavily on long-distance transmission. That kind of setup is faster, more resilient, and easier to optimize with software.
Wind got the least love.
Not because it can’t work, but because it’s less predictable, harder to maintain, and more expensive to service than solar+battery combos. Their view: we should be doubling down on what’s cheap, scalable, and flexible.
Would love to hear what others think. Are you seeing this shift toward more distributed planning? How are you thinking about battery strategy?