Twitter/X

In 2018 Zach Dell, then a summer analyst at Blackstone, predicted the marginal…

2026-08-04 · 17:04 UTC ·@a16z ·1 min read

Brief

Base Power & The Future of Electricity (a16z, Aug 4, 2026) recounts Zach Dell’s 2018 Blackstone analysis predicting solar-plus-storage would undercut coal and gas. That shift has occurred: solar is now the fastest-growing electricity source and lithium-ion battery pack costs have dropped over 90% since 2010.

Why it matters

In 2018 Zach Dell, then a summer analyst at Blackstone, predicted the marginal cost of solar plus storage would fall below the marginal cost of coal and natural gas.

Key details

  • Solar has become the fastest-growing source of electricity, and lithium-ion battery pack prices have fallen more than 90% since 2010.
  • These points are presented in a16z's article 'Base Power & The Future of Electricity' by @espricewright and @mikemcg0, published Aug 4, 2026.
Cleaned source text

"In 2018, Zach Dell was a summer analyst at Blackstone studying the utility-scale battery opportunity. 'One thing became really clear to me,' he recalls. 'The marginal cost of solar plus storage was going to fall below the marginal cost of coal and natural gas.'

He was right. Solar is now the fastest-growing source of electricity in history, and the price of a lithium-ion battery pack has fallen more than 90% since 2010."

Base Power & The Future of Electricity, by @espricewright & @mikemcg0: a16z.news/p/base-power-and-t…

a16z (@a16z)

Article

Base Power & the Future of Electricity

By @espricewright & @mikemcg0

In 2018, Zach Dell was a summer analyst at Blackstone studying the utility-scale battery opportunity. “One thing became really clear to me,” he recalls. “The marginal

— https://nitter.net/a16z/status/2084679526311968792#m