Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Tina Smith (D-Minn) introduced energy storage legislation this week that calls for a $300 million initiative to build five advanced, grid-scale systems across the country. Under the Better Energy Storage Technology Act (BEST), the Department of Energy would invest $60 million a year from 2020 through … [Read more...]
California Opens Door to Residential Microgrids for All New Homes with Efficiency Code
May 25, 2018 By 4 Comments
California has opened the door for residential microgrids in all new homes with the recent release of 2019 building standards aimed at improving energy efficiency. Issued by the California Energy Commission, the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards require solar photovoltaics for all new homes. They also provide new home builders with … [Read more...]
Energy Storage Gets Biggest Boost in Years. Thank you FERC
February 23, 2018 By 5 Comments
A recent federal ruling is likely to give energy storage its biggest boost in years, and buoy microgrids along the way, by granting storage more access to revenue from competitive wholesale electricity markets. Issued February 15 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the rule aims to eliminate barriers that prevent energy storage from … [Read more...]
New York Opens the Year with a Triple Boost for Energy Storage
January 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave energy storage a triple boost yesterday with the release of a series of new climate change initiatives. First, Cuomo called for 1,500 MW of energy storage in New York by 2025, a goal he sees the state reaching through regulatory changes and utility solicitations. Second, he proposed that the NY Green Bank … [Read more...]
Hurricane Harvey Devastation Shows Why Grid Resiliency is Critical
September 8, 2017 By Leave a Comment
While the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the West’s wildfires are fresh in our minds, it’s critical to start focusing on grid resiliency -- and how distributed energy can contribute to it. Utilities and state regulators right now focus more on grid reliability than grid resiliency, said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage … [Read more...]
Analysis: Will the Perry Study Actually Help Microgrids and Energy Storage?
August 25, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Microgrids and energy storage improve electric reliability. So it was perplexing to see how little attention they received in a major study on grid reliability issued this week by the U.S. Department of Energy. Businesses, communities and institutions across the country have stepped up installation of microgrids in recent years to ensure power … [Read more...]
New York Allots $15.5M to Fund Energy Storage Projects
April 21, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Energy storage companies, as well as other stakeholders, in New York have a new opportunity as of this week. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced that it has made $15.5 million available to fund energy storage projects to support the electric grid. The funding will go toward energy storage that can … [Read more...]
Solar Plus Storage Microgrid Installed at Denver’s Panasonic Hub
April 18, 2017 By 1 Comment
Panasonic’s operations hub in Denver has a brand new microgrid. Announced at the Energy Storage Association’s 27th Annual Conference, Younicos – in partnership with Panasonic and Xcel Energy – has commissioned a solar plus storage microgrid for a smart transit project underway in Denver. The 1 MW/2 MWh lithium ion battery system can be found at … [Read more...]
What the Changes to California’s Self-Generation Incentives Mean to Energy Storage
July 6, 2016 By 1 Comment
Energy storage gets a big nod under recent changes to California's self-generation incentives, which also place new emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the revisions to the self-generation incentive program (SGIP) on June 23. Under the changes, 75 percent of the funding goes to … [Read more...]
Microgrid-Energy Storage Projects Take Note! 2015 Was Record Breaker for Storage
March 4, 2016 By 1 Comment
The microgrid-energy storage pairing is increasingly common, so it's interesting to note that the U.S. energy storage market just had both its best quarter and best year of all time. The U.S. deployed 112 MW of energy storage capacity in the fourth quarter of 2015 -- higher than all storage deployments in 2013 and 2014 combined -- bringing the … [Read more...]
