House energy subcommittee holds hearing on growth of battery storage
The House Subcommittee on Energy recently held a hearing on the growth of large-scale energy storage in the United States, the attributes it can provide the grid, and its potential use and impacts within wholesale markets.
“Electricity is a fundamental and essential part of our everyday lives, and the interruption of which has far-reaching impacts on our livelihoods, health, welfare, and national security,” Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said. “This is why it is important to utilize all forms of tools and technologies, including energy storage, to help ensure our nation’s electric grid is reliable and resilient.”
Witnesses included: Keith E. Casey, vice president of market and infrastructure development at California ISO; Mark Frigo, vice president and head of energy storage at E.ON North America; Kiran Kumaraswamy, market applications director at Fluence; Zachary Kuznar, director of CHP Microgrid and Energy Storage Development at Duke Energy Corporation; and Kushal Patel, partner at Energy and Environmental Economics, Incorporated.
The hearing was the eleventh hearing of the committee’s ‘Powering America’ series and was held on the series’ one-year anniversary.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, installed battery capacity has nearly doubled every two years since 2011. By the end of 2017, the United States had 708 megawatts of large-scale battery capacity in operation, representing 867 megawatt-hours of energy capacity, according to EIA data.
