A battery farm in the Bronx could help clean up New York's power grid
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Clean Energy, brought to you by a pension fund.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Stephanie Hughes. One of the most powerful tools in the fight against climate change is the money sitting in investment portfolios. Specifically, the trillions of dollars invested on behalf of public retirees. That's money that could be invested in clean energy companies. In New York City, they've implemented an ambitious net zero plan for the pensions of public workers there. Part of that plan includes divesting from some fossil fuel companies and investing in clean energy.

Currently, the city has more than $11 billion in climate solutions. One beneficiary of those dollars is a battery company. How We Survive host Amy Scott went to visit. We made it. Our little corner of the Northeast Bronx. Pretty cool. I've never been up here. In a fenced-in gravel lot between an elementary school and a big shopping center, I meet up with Adam Cohen, co-founder of Nine Dot Energy. All right, you want to show us around? Sure.

With his navy hoodie, he looks the part of a young entrepreneur. We can walk this way. We walk down a row of big metal cabinets. So these are batteries. These are big batteries. These cabinets hold a combined three megawatts of battery storage, enough to power about 3,000 New York City households for four hours on a hot summer day.

The batteries sit here all charged up with energy from the power lines overhead. And then hold that power until the utility says, please give it back. When the city's grid gets stressed, maybe it's an especially hot summer day and everyone's running their AC, the local utility, Con Ed, can call on Nine Dot to help relieve that stress.

So last summer, it was called half a dozen times on the peak of the peak days. Enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a combined 24 metric tons. That's the equivalent of 9,000 car trips on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Nine Dot's hope is that more of these battery storage farms can be built all over the city, reducing the reliance on dirty power plants.

Currently, the city has the dirtiest energy grid in the state. More than 90% of its power comes from fossil fuels. Battery farms like this could eventually help the grid transition to renewable sources like wind and solar. The sun only shines when nature tells it to. The wind only blows when nature tells it to. But people use electricity when they decide to. And so a battery helps mediate that process. It pulls in the exoplanets.

that extra power when it's available and then put it back out when people call for it. We'll be right back.

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Marketplace listeners get one month of Gamma Pro free with promo code Marketplace. You have ideas. Gamma brings them to life. You're listening to Marketplace Tech. I'm Stephanie Hughes. We're back with Amy Scott, host of Marketplace's podcast, How We Survive. Nine Dot is still in growth mode, but the city of New York hopes its investment in the company pays off, not just for retirees drawing pensions.

but for future generations, like the kids at the school across the street from the battery farm. I'm definitely an artist. One thing about me, I'm definitely an artist. Virtue Anoja is a sixth grader who attended the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning II. Two years ago, she and other students helped paint a mural along the fence at the Nine Dot site. Down over here, I did like most of over here. I drew like most of the park.

And the trees. Walking me up and down the mural, Virtue points out some of her drawings. I drew a clear blue sky, no pollution, no nothing. Beautiful flowers, beautiful yellow flowers and the sun. There are also drawings of windmills and electric school buses. It's a hopeful imagining of the future that the city is trying to invest into reality. That's Marketplace's Amy Scott.

To hear more stories of climate solutions, check out the latest season of How We Survive wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Stephanie Hughes, and that's Marketplace Tech. This is APM. If there's one thing we know about social media, it's that misinformation is everywhere, especially when it comes to personal finance. Financially Inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help you get serious about your money so you can build a life you've always dreamed of.

I'm the host, Janelia Espinal, and each week I ask experts important money questions, like how to negotiate job offers, how to choose a college that you can afford, and how to talk about money with friends and family. Listen to Financially Inclined wherever you get your podcasts.