With US$5.4B projected for U.S. storage investments by 2024 — a 12-fold increase in annual growth in less than five years — the trajectory for energy storage is clear. What’s also clear is that policymakers across the country see the value of encouraging this striking market growth with policies that enable expansion. What’s less clear is whether states or the federal government will take the lead in encouraging the integration of storage into the electric grid.
Energy storage is an increasingly important technology that serves myriad retail and wholesale services, and with robust economic, grid reliability, and climate benefits. So, is it at the state level where homes and businesses might need these resources to ensure resilient and clean power? Or is it at the Federal level where developers and utilities can reinforce the reliability and efficiency of electric wholesale services?
I posit that enabling policies are needed at both the Federal and the State level. But challenges loom large at the Federal level this year.
StorageITC is a missed opportunity, but not gone
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been integral in pushing for the adoption of energy storage deployment with Order 841, and just a few weeks ago the Department of Energy issued the Energy Storage Grand Challenge. But Congress missed a big opportunity this past December. Despite broad, bipartisan and bicameral support, federal lawmakers ultimately took a pass on legislation to clarify that the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) should include stand-alone energy storage.
Even with the challenges of an election coming up in November, we will keep fighting to make sure this common sense, jobs- and economic growth-enabling energy policy ultimately prevails this year. A number of additional technology innovation bills that encourage storage are also working their way through Congress, and we look forward to doing what we can to help make them into law. But even though energy storage policy enjoys bipartisan support, there are obvious challenges associated in an election year in a deeply divided congress.
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