Power in the Bank: Energy storage could flip the script on how electricity is managed.

• Author: Shea, Daniel
• Position: ENERGY

Electricity is a fleeting commodity. It must be consumed the instant it's generated. Supply must always meet demand, fluctuating up or down with the flick of a switch.

Since its inception, electricity's immediacy--driven by the inability to easily store it for later use--has set it apart.

However, all of that is changing as new technologies shift the energy landscape. It's now possible to store electricity: An electron can be generated and purchased at a certain price and a certain time, only to be sold at a different price and consumed at a different time.

In essence, it's the ability to hold onto something until it's most useful.

It's called energy storage. And it's coming off several big years.

A Bit of Policy, a Bit of Luck

A combination of supportive public policy, industry readiness and a bit of luck has caused a surge of interest in energy storage technology.

In 2016, a massive leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles threatened the reliability of the grid, leading the governor to declare a state of emergency and California regulators to rapidly approve around 100 megawatts of energy storage installations.

That's a lot of energy--as much as one-tenth of an average nuclear reactor's generating capacity or enough to power around 75,000 homes. The energy storage projects largely surpassed expectations, bringing attention to the technology's potential.

Lawmakers, too, became interested in the possibilities storage technology offers. "The development of energy storage technology and its long-term deployment [is a] critical component to energy cost reduction, system reliability, carbon footprint reduction and energy diversification," Massachusetts House Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr. (R) says.

In 2017, legislators in nine states enacted measures supporting the development of greater energy storage capacity, with several states enacting storage targets.

That momentum has carried into this year. Currently, California, Massachusetts and Oregon have energy storage targets on the books, while Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey and New York have directed state regulators to establish them.

New York Deputy Senate Majority Whip Joseph Griffo (R) says it's important that energy storage receives policy supports similar to those for renewable energy resources to help them "evolve and become more affordable."

"The same support was afforded to solar and wind technologies in order to advance these renewable energy technologies and ultimately help reduce their overall costs," Griffo says. "It is important to embrace a diversity of clean energy fuel sources and technologies."

Other states have advanced different policies. Hawaii and Maryland enacted tax credits for energy storage, while at least three other...