April 19, 2021 Battery storage is becoming a more viable tool for meeting peaks in energy demand — and it could do it in a greener, healthier way than fossil plants. SHOW TRANSCRIPT Today, when demand for energy surges, many utilities will turn to so-called "peaker plants" powered by fossil fuels. But high-capacity batteries are starting to meet more of that demand — and that could help clean up some of the dirtiest parts of the U.S. grid. "They charge overnight or in the late morning," says Paul Denholm, principal energy analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "They are fully charged by that 3, 4 p.m. period, and they can start to discharge to replace the energy that would have otherwise been generated from a peaking power plant."