Sens. Moran, Klobuchar introduce bill to help rural communities with energy storage
U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced legislation to help rural communities and electricity cooperatives increase renewable energy storage and upgrade grids.
The Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy (EASE) Act will provide access to relevant resources and expertise for these rural communities to implement energy storage and upgrade the grid.
“Kansas is a nationwide leader in renewable energy and an increased capacity
for energy storage is imperative to grow and capitalize on our renewable energy
potential,” Moran said. “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will increase
grid reliability and resilience, and help communities in Kansas and across the
country – especially in rural areas – access energy supplies during peak usage
periods with less burdensome rate hikes.”
The Department of Energy created the Solar Utility Network Deployment Acceleration (SUNDA) project in 2013 to increase the adoption of solar energy in rural communities across the country. The SUNDA project ended in 2018, but the EASE Act would implement similar initiatives.
“We need a comprehensive energy strategy that puts America back in control of our energy supply—one that creates jobs, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, keeps energy costs affordable for all Americans, and responds to the challenges of global climate change,” Klobuchar said. “This bipartisan legislation will improve rural community energy resiliency and autonomy, spur economic activity, and improve public and environmental health.”
Energy storage can contribute to meeting electricity demand during peak times, but energy storage has not been widely adopted. In 2017, the United States generated 4 billion megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity but had only 431 MWh of electricity storage available. Some of barriers to development of new rural projects can be reduced by providing communities and rural electricity cooperatives with access to relevant resources and expertise.
