The $2.5 trillion reason we can’t rely on batteries to clean up the grid

FLUCTUATING SOLAR AND WIND POWER REQUIRE LOTS OF ENERGY STORAGE, AND LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES SEEM LIKE THE OBVIOUS CHOICE—BUT THEY ARE FAR TOO EXPENSIVE TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE.

A pair of 500-foot smokestacks rise from a natural-gas power plant on the harbor of Moss Landing, California, casting an industrial pall over the pretty seaside town.

If state regulators sign off, however, it could be the site of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery project by late 2020, helping to balance fluctuating wind and solar energy on the Cali…