Vital infrastructure or storing up trouble? Debate over battery farms continues to rage 

Rising electricity demands, renewable energy goals, and soaring energy bills all mean the need for such facilities is real, if not critical

The McMicken Battery Energy Storage facility at the edge of the desert suburb of Surprise, Arizona. Picture: Peoria Fire and Medical Department, Arizona.

In the split second before US firefighter Captain Hunter Clare lost consciousness, he saw his thermal imaging camera suddenly flicker red and then “Boom. The building exploded.”

It was his last clear memory for over two months.