U.S. Senate discussing national energy storage deployment
June 2, 2015
Energy storage has seen increased attention lately from utility companies worldwide, in part thanks to several incentive programs, mandates and high profile projects. The technology has seen strong adoption in the United States, especially after the California state regulators established an ambitious set of new regulations regarding energy storage in 2013. Utilities are currently being encouraged to help California achieve its goal of 1.4 gigawatts of installed energy storage statewide, and the state has seen numerous projects and funding applications sprout up since regulators made their announcement.
Several pundits predicted that other states may follow in California's footsteps. They argued that the various forms of energy storage technology utilized in the Golden State, including thermal energy storage, each have unique advantages ideal for addressing the countless grid problems facing utilities across the country. This shift is taking place more quickly than anyone could have imagined. In fact, new pieces of nationally focused energy storage legislation just recently hit the senate. If this trend continues, it won't be long before various energy storage technologies see more routine deployment across the country.
Free Market Act of 2015 to protect consumer rights
Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has introduced The Free Market Act of 2015 as a national standard for Distributed Energy Resources (DER) such as thermal energy storage, renewable generation, demand response and energy efficiency, deployed on the customer side of the grid. The Act intends to protect consumers right to connect to the grid at a reasonable price which opens the door for time of day pricing or electric rates that more precisely reflect the benefits of DER.
An ambitious storage strategy proposed
More recently Senator Martin Heinrich's introduced a new piece of legislation, the Energy Storage and Deployment Act of 2015. The Act does not stop at outlining new storage opportunities for his home state of New Mexico - the senator's latest piece of legislation looks to replicate California's success in energy storage deployment across the entire country. If the bill passes, then the country will seek to meet its goal of over 18 gigawatts storage installed by the end of 2024.
The Energy Storage and Deployment Act of 2015 calls for the nation's utilities to specifically contribute toward this goal by shifting a certain percentage of their peak load to energy storage. The biggest electricity providers will have to shift 1 percent of peak demand to storage by the end of 2021, then another 1 percent by 2024, according to Greentech Media.
The resource also noted that this mandate recognizes all types of energy storage available, making the legislation a boon for the industry as a whole. Proponents of thermal storage, hydropower and batteries alike will find that the passage of the law would be advantageous for both building owners and utilities.
Heinrich's bill may fail, but the law is a good start
Greentech Media reported that there's little chance of Heinrich's bill passing. Regardless, the process of reviewing and voting on the bill is advantageous in that it informs more legislators about the benefits that energy storage technology has to offer our nation's power grid. This spread of information is also beneficial for their constituents as it opens the door for more solutions to common power grid problems.
Additionally, there's a chance that the bill could be absorbed as an addition to a larger piece of legislation. Legislators within the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee are interested in pushing a large, bipartisan energy bill through Congress in the near future, said Utility Dive. There's a good chance this broad legislation could pick up Heinrich's bill as a critical component.
