Grid batteries & data‑centre limits

Grid batteries are spreading fast as utilities scramble to meet rising power demand from data centers, even as Maine moves to pause new projects for a year. (bloomberg.com) (wbur.org) A grid battery is a giant pack that stores electricity when supply is plentiful and pushes it back out during the evening peak or an outage. The International Energy Agency said battery storage in the power sector was the fastest-growing commercially available energy technology in 2023, with deployment more than doubling year over year. (iea.org) Battery prices have fallen more than 90% in less than 15 years, according to the International Energy Agency, and that cost drop is now reshaping power markets from Texas to Australia. Bloomberg reported that new mega-projects are lining up in 2026 at solar hubs in Texas, in Inner Mongolia and at a former coal-plant site north of Sydney. (iea.org) (bloomberg.com) The demand problem is getting bigger at the same time. The International Energy Agency said electricity use from data centers rose 17% in 2025, while its Electricity 2026 outlook said global power demand is set to grow 3.6% a year through 2030, helped by industry, electric vehicles, air conditioning and data centers. (iea.org 1) (iea.org 2) In the United States, the Electric Power Research Institute estimates data centers could reach 9% to 17% of national electricity use by 2030, up from 4% to 5% today. The Department of Energy separately says data centers used about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023 and could reach roughly 6.7% to 12% by 2028. (epri.com) (energy.gov) Maine lawmakers responded by passing what news outlets described as the nation’s first statewide moratorium on large new data centers. The measure would pause projects larger than 20 megawatts for one year while the state studies effects on the grid, electricity prices, water use and climate goals. (wbur.org) (mainemorningstar.com) Supporters said Maine needed time because utilities and residents could end up carrying the costs of transmission upgrades and generation build-outs. Opponents, including the Data Center Coalition, said the freeze could push developers to other states and block an industry that often draws fiber, construction work and tax revenue. (usnews.com) (cnbc.com) Federal officials are arguing for a different path: add clean generation, expand transmission, use onsite power and storage, and make data centers more flexible about when they draw from the grid. The Department of Energy says those tools can help meet AI-related load growth without sacrificing reliability or affordability. (energy.gov 1) (energy.gov 2) The same squeeze is also putting more attention on smaller, more efficient computing that can run closer to the user instead of in giant server campuses. The International Energy Agency said power use per artificial-intelligence task is falling quickly even as total demand rises, leaving utilities, chipmakers and software companies racing on both fronts at once. (iea.org) So the story is no longer just about building more data centers. It is also about where the power comes from, how long interconnections take, and whether cheaper batteries can buy the grid enough time to keep up. (bloomberg.com) (epri.com)