Powering America: The Role of Energy Storage in the Nation’s Electricity System
By Kathleen Nicholas and Tim Peckinpaugh
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee convened its eleventh hearing in its “Powering America” series. The series goal is to examine all aspects of the U.S. electricity sector, and today the focus was on energy storage. Members on both sides of the political divide agreed utilization of battery and other storage systems presents an opportunity to better optimize the country’s electricity system, and help bolster vulnerable places like Puerto Rico and rural areas.
The witnesses today were:
- Dr. Keith E. Casey, Vice President, Market and Infrastructure Development, California ISO (Opening Statement)
- Mr. Mark Frigo, Vice President and Head of Energy Storage, E.ON North America (Opening Statement)
- Mr. Kiran Kumaraswamy, Market Applications Director, Fluence (Opening Statement)
- Dr. Zachary Kuznar, Director, CHP Microgrid and Energy Storage Development, Duke Energy Corporation (Opening Statement)
- Mr. Kushal Patel, Partner, Energy and Environmental Economics, Incorporated (Opening Statement)
A variety of topics were broached during the hearing, including ways the federal government can be helpful to the storage industry and how large-scale storage can be applied to the grid in ways that increase resiliency and reliability, and are beneficial to ratepayers.
You can view an archived video of the webcast here.