NHA, CAREBS applaud growing focus on energy storage benefits to U.S. grid

The Coalition to Advance Renewable Energy through Bulk Storage (CAREBS) and the National Hydropower Association (NHA) applaud the recognition of the valuable role of energy storage in electricity production and delivery, contained in the “Joint Principles for Clean Energy” issued by the American Wind Energy Association and the Electricity Storage Association on June 8.  Cooperation between the storage and renewable energy communities will help ensure more consistent and coordinated policy direction, greater grid reliability, and more clean energy jobs for Americans.  

Given the growth of variable energy resources and the need for greater grid flexibility, CAREBS and NHA support regulatory frameworks and operating regimes which illuminate the full value of grid services, especially ancillary services, provided by energy storage, and we support the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s efforts to create those market structures.  We also support initiatives in Congress to enact policies that appropriately recognize the value of energy storage, particularly bulk storage. 

Decades of grid operation experience have shown that bulk energy storage makes all forms of energy -- particularly clean and renewable energy -- more efficient and reliable.  Large-scale storage systems, already familiar to grid operators and utilities, which are commercially proven, financeable, and introduce the least technological risk, will bring more clean energy to more people more of the time at the lowest overall cost.

CAREBS and NHA look forward to working together with all industry stakeholders to further develop long term solutions that enable the growth of our domestic energy supply and assure the future reliability of our nation’s grid.