Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat representing California, introduced legislation on Dec. 13 titled “Battery Storage Innovation Act,” which seeks to expand the innovative technology loan guarantee program to include battery storage applications in residential, industrial, and transportation sectors. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created the program, authorizing the U.S. Energy Department to issue loan guarantees to encourage early commercial use of new or significantly improved technologies in energy projects.(HR 7312)

The second bill, “Advancing Grid Storage Act of 2018,” would require the department to conduct research of energy storage systems or strategies that enhance the ability to shift the dispatch of energy in time, across multiple timescales. The bill would also require the department to create a loan program and technical assistance and grant program to support the technology. (HR 7313)

The “S.T.O.R.A.G.E. Act” would require electric utilities to consider investment in energy storage systems as part of their supply side resource planning process. (HR 7311)