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Almost exactly one year ago today, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told television audiences that energy storage is not a thing that exists. Perhaps he fooled some members of the viewing public, perhaps not. Be that as it may, earlier this week Secretary Burgum finally, firmly, and publicly admitted the truth about energy storage.
What If There Was A World Without Energy Storage
What a difference a year makes. Here’s Burgum in August of 2025:
“And of course, when the sun goes down, you have a catastrophic failure called sunset and there’s no solar energy produced, and yet we’re subsidizing these things that are intermittent, unreliable, and expensive,” Burgum said during his appearance on Fox Business Thursday, blithely skipping over the part where modern BESS (battery energy storage systems) can store up solar energy for later use.
