“Batteries are not generation. … They do not produce energy. They store it. In fact, they destroy a little bit of it with round-trip efficiency. So they're like the opposite of generation. They're actually like incremental energy-destroying machines. They just, for the cost of that reduced round-trip efficiency, they can move energy in time. … Batteries are electron-time machines.”
Open Circuit · September 2026
LaFarge is explaining his company's model of putting three-to-five-megawatt batteries at the edge of parking lots near grid constraints. He argues that batteries are valuable for raising grid utilization, by moving energy to where and when the grid needs it, and not as a source of power.
Transcript
…investment in incentives, infrastructure, and workforce. The result, more energy production, more. Innovation, fewer emissions, and energy exported across the country. New Mexico is building the energy future right now. See what's happening at detectnm.com. That's detect nm as in newmexico.com.
…So, I'm curious. I know you've been on lots of podcasts talking about this, and we've had discussions about it. So, let's kind of zip through it and just explain why strategically placing a one to three megawatt battery in like parking lots and other free space is a grid utilization strategy.
…say that, regardless of their regulatory treatment, they do not produce energy. They store it. In fact, they destroy a little bit of it with round-trip efficiency. So, they're like the opposite of generation. They're actually like incremental energy-destroying machines. They just, for the cost of that reduced round-trip efficiency, they can move energy in time. And I've said this before, right? Batteries are electron-time machines. And so, when you're talking about the best type of flexibility, it would be flexibility both in space and time. And the beauty of batteries is you can put them where the grid needs them most. So, you charge them up when there's plenty of energy on the grid. You dispatch them when it has constraints, both where the grid needs that relief of constraint and when it needs it, right? Because you're…
I personally like the three to five megawatt model, mainly because if you're going to Dork, geek out for a second, if you think about like rate classes for CNI customers residential customers, there's just more incentive. There's more incentive there. But, you know, Pierre, one of the things that…
Google just did some tests this week, right? I told
you, Jigger owes me so much money. So much money. Jigger, you're not on the pod. You owe me $10,000 for that bad money. So that's all going to happen. But I worked in the concept of decentralized power more in the developing world. And I'm going to come back to that for a second. But in a second.…
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