For decades, R&D firms have been striving to bring down the cost of large-scale batteries to be cost-effective for utility-scale power storage. Units have already been installed at a handful of US utilities, with systems having 10-20 MW of peak output. All are designed mainly to help grids ride through brief problems, such as the failure of a power plant or transmission line, while power is switched to other sources or lines.

I am pleased to forward 5’s 2013 second quarter overview of the energy market. Like the prior letters, this note covers some notable trends and developments over the past quarter.

Let me start with a simple observation: it is a great time to be an energy consumer.Almost all other segments of the energy market are under pressure. Producers are pressured by an abundant supply of natural gas and oil driven by hydraulic fracking. Generation owners face difficult investment decisions. They manage power plants that struggle to turn a profit at today’s wholesale prices and face new challenges from demand response, renewables and environmental legislation. Retail suppliers continue to see increased competition and compressed margins.