Senators Introduce Bill to Promote Energy Storage Research and Deployment

“Investing in 21^st century energy infrastructure is good for families, businesses, and communities in Minnesota and across the country,” said Sen. Franken. “My legislative proposal would modernize our energy technologies, bring more jobs to Minnesota, save money, and make energy delivery more efficient and reliable.”

The Advancing Grid Storage Act promotes research, development, demonstration, and deployment of energy storage systems by:

• Advancing energy storage research and development. The Advancing Grid Storage Act authorizes $50 million per year of dedicated funding for energy storage systems within the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E).
• Establishing a technical assistance program for energy storage systems.  The Advancing Grid Storage Act establishes a 5-year, $500 million technical assistance program to help for-profit and nonprofit entities identify opportunities, assess feasibility, overcome interconnection and permitting challenges, conduct financial assessments, and perform the required engineering.
• Supporting demonstration and deployment of energy storage systems. The Advancing Grid Storage Act establishes a 5-year, $500 million competitive grant program to help states, tribes, utilities, and universities overcome high upfront capital costs of energy storage systems. The grants are capped at 50 percent of the total project cost, up to $5 million.

“Energy storage complements renewable resources like wind and solar to increase full-time availability and provide backup power in case of emergencies,” said Sen. Heinrich. “By investing in modernizing our energy infrastructure we can help make our electrical grid more resilient and reliable, while helping families and businesses save money. This bill encourages innovation to promote clean energy storage, and will help create clean energy jobs in New Mexico and across the country.”  

Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO, Energy Storage Association released a statement on the Advanced Grid Storage Act, saying,"“We applaud the leadership of Senator Franken and Senator Heinrich for introducing the S.1851 Advancing Grid Storage Act (AGSA) in Congress. AGSA will provide assistance to state and local governments, smaller utilities, public power districts and rural cooperatives who seek to modernize their electric infrastructure with advanced energy storage systems. These advances will make the grid more efficient, sustainable, resilient and affordable, to the benefit of homes and businesses across the U.S.”