The Indicator from Planet Money Folgen

If you want to build a grid-scale battery project in Texas, be prepared to ride the free-market rodeo. On our second episode of this week's battery series, we visit the state that has the second-most battery storage capacity to understand whether large-scale batteries can help prevent blackouts. Related episodes: How batteries are already changing the grid (Apple / Spotify) Texas' new power grid problem (Apple / Spotify) For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Renewable energy, when it comes to solar and wind power, has always had a caveat: it can only run when the wind blows or the sun shines. The idea of a battery was floated around to make renewables available 24/7. For years, it existed as an expensive, little-used technology. And then in 2021, it took off. In California, there is now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millions of homes, at least for a few hours, and it's growing fast. How did that happen, and what does the newfound success mean for the grid? This week, we dig into three stories about grid-scale battery storage. Today, we go on-the-ground to California, where batteries first took off in the U.S. Related episodes:Rooftop solar's dark side (Apple / Spotify) How EV batteries tore apart Michigan (Update) (Apple / Spotify) How China became solar royalty (Apple / Spotify) Wind boom, wind bust (Two windicators) (Apple / Spotify) For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's the first Jobs Friday of the new year, and there's good news! The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 4.1%, and the economy added 256,000 jobs. So, for the last month of 2024, the jobs market finished pretty strong.Today on the show, we look at the indicators from this month's jobs report that give us a snapshot of where our economy's headed. We look at how men are potentially reversing a decades-long trend of declining labor force participation, how people who are unemployed are staying that way for longer and how a lot of Americans saw their wages rise in 2024. PLUS ... we reveal the winner of our Indicator of 2024!Related episodes:Help us pick the indicator of the year! Getting more men into so-called pink-collar jobsFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy