A Review of State-Level Policies on Electrical Energy Storage

Abstract

Purpose of Review: Since California adopted its energy storage mandate in 2013, 14 other states have developed energy storage policies designed to encourage adoption or reduce barriers. This paper reviews those efforts to identify what types of policies are being developed, the underlying goals and rationale behind different approaches, and the early outcomes of those policies. Recent Findings: State activity related to energy storage has accelerated in recent years, and numerous policies have emerged. Generally, those policies take one of two approaches: facilitating operational experience with energy storage by ensuring its presence on the grid, or enabling future deployments by removing or reducing barriers. Through detailed review of state policy actions, this paper explores the drivers, design, and implementation of these five specific types of energy storage policy. Summary: A taxonomy of state policies related to energy storage is presented, as well as recent research findings that support the different approaches and specific examples of how, where, and why those policies have been implemented. Finally, early impacts of these policies are considered.