February 11, 2020
ESA Testifies Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Support of the Storage Legislation
ESA’s CEO, Kelly Speakes-Backman, testified today at a hearing of the Energy Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on several energy storage bills, emphasizing ESA’s endorsement of the Promoting Grid Storage Act, H.R. 2909. The bicameral and bipartisan bill would create a competitive grant program that empowers local entities—state and local governments, utilities, public power authorities, rural electric cooperatives, and private companies—to identify the types of modeling support and grid deployments that will best accelerate their learning through experience, share the investment responsibility, and construct competitive proposals to cost-share those activities. In addition, Speakes-Backman testified to the importance of focusing assistance to rural electric cooperatives on resilience, per the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act, H.R. 4447, and incorporating energy storage into long-term utility planning, which is contemplated in the S.T.O.R.A.G.E. Act, H.R. 1744.
