NY Legislature Passes Historic Legislation to Advance Energy Storage

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York's legislature took an important step this week to ensure its position as a first-mover among states in accelerating energy storage and the advanced energy economy. Led by Senator Joseph Griffo, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, and a bipartisan coalition of other state legislators, both chambers voted unanimously to pass NY Senate Bill 5190 and Assembly Bill 6571 to establish an Energy Storage Deployment Program for the Empire State.

"New York continues to be a hub for energy innovation and is a model for leveraging effective policy and market structures to advance practical solutions," said Matt Roberts, Executive Director of the Energy Storage Association. "It is critical that Governor Cuomo signs this unanimously-passed legislation and reaffirms the state's commitment to addressing costly peak demand and integrating more sustainable energy. This legislation will bring significant benefits to New York ratepayers, improve system reliability, lower energy costs, and enable the increased deployment of sustainable energy."

Senate Bill 5190 and Assembly Bill 6571 ensure prudency in New York's longer-term electric sector investments by directing the Public Service Commission to develop an Energy Storage Deployment Program, including a storage procurement target for 2030. Doing so will start a deliberative process by which the PSC can determine what is appropriate for New York with input from utilities, customers, and other stakeholders. This, in turn, will ensure storage is on the menu of options that New York regulators and utilities use to save ratepayers money, increase grid resiliency, and integrate more renewable and distributed resources. A long-term, binding storage procurement target will provide a steady commitment to deploy energy storage in New York, driving significant market investment and hiring by diverse firms, ensuring the widest range of products are offered, driving down soft costs, and enabling learning-by-doing. 

"In addition to direct benefits to the grid and all ratepayers, signing these bills into law will also drive new investment and job growth in the Empire State," continued Roberts. "The state is already home to more than 3,900 energy storage sector jobs, surging more than 30% in the last 4 years. Energy storage is key to New York's advanced energy economy, and this legislation will propel further economic growth for the state."

SOURCE Energy Storage Association