“Energy storage systems are critical to ensuring a resilient, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable grid,” a letter sent on April 3 by the Energy Storage Association and 52 industry organizations admonished the leaders of the U.S. Congress – asking the lawmakers to see energy storage as a policy priority when they discuss infrastructure projects in the coming months.
Addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin-1st District), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California-12th District) , the correspondence emphasized that energy storage systems are “fuel neutral” – and therefore, would support any generation resource connected to the grid, whether fossil fuel or renewable.
What’s more, the signatories said, the U.S. has a leading global industry position to protect. Indeed, in the fourth quarter of 2016, alone, the nation deployed 141 MW of energy storage – and experts expect the market to grow by tenfold over the next several years.
As costs of the technology decline and adoption rates climb, the global industry is expected to surge to more than $240 billion annually by 2040, “and if the U.S. competes to stay at the forefront, it can employ and support hundreds of thousands of Americans,” the letter said.
But it is not just about dollars and cents, the association and the industry principals stated. Energy storage deployment enjoys bipartisan support because of the direct and tangible benefits that it delivers on the grid. They pointed out that both Republican and Democratic governors have implemented programs supporting early storage deployments.
“For example, utilities in Texas, Utah, and New York have proposed energy storage as a smart, cost-effective complement to their wires and substations,” the letter detailed, providing the following other examples:
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