By Michael Kuser

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York lawmakers last week unanimously passed a measure requiring the state’s Public Service Commission to set targets to increase the adoption of energy storage in the state through 2030.

The new law requires the commission to work with the New York State Energy and Research Development Agency (NYSERDA) and the Long Island Power Authority to set targets and develop a storage deployment program.

“This newly passed bill gives New York’s PSC clear direction: set a storage target and design a deployment program by the end of 2017,” said Anne Reynolds, director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York. “This is a great signal to the storage industry that New York will be a promising place to invest. But first we need Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo to sign it into law.”

The Energy Storage Deployment Program bill combined Assembly and Senate measures sponsored by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and Sen. Joseph Griffo.

Both sponsors of the legislation pointed to enhanced reliability of the electric grid as a top benefit of increased use of energy storage, as well as the jobs expected to be created.

A NYSERDA study earlier this year found that about 4,000 workers were employed in the state’s energy storage industry by the end of 2015, up 30% since 2012. The study projected the state’s industry could grow from about $1 billion in revenue to up to $8.7 billion in 2030, with the number of jobs possibly exceeding 25,000.

“Storage also increases the resiliency of the electric grid by supplying power in the event of an electrical outage. The creation of an energy storage deployment program will increase the installation of energy storage systems throughout the state and accelerate these benefits,” Paulin said in a statement after the bill’s passage.

Setting Targets

Because energy storage is applicable to so many electricity grid functions, a narrow focus on one area fails to capture the complete value of the technology, according to Dr. William Acker, director of the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium.

“By analyzing the system as a whole and setting targets, you’re able to create a situation where the energy storage can be adapted into a variety of different applications,” Acker said. “That will open up the markets and lead to penetrations that are far greater than the targets that will have been set. The energy storage industry has made rapid technological advancement over the past few year, but equally important, the costs have dropped dramatically in terms of both the technology and the scale of production.” (See Storage Technology Still Outracing RTO Metrics, Rules.)

Reynolds said her group looks forward to working with the PSC to create a workable program and targets.

“Since it is up to the PSC to determine the specific target by the end of December, industry members do not yet know what impact this could have,” Reynolds said. “New York’s ambitious renewable energy mandate is 50% by 2030. Technically speaking, we do not absolutely need storage to get there, but it can be an excellent complement to increasing renewables deployment and boosting overall system efficiency.”

The state’s Clean Energy Standard, part of Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative, mandates that 50% of electricity generation come from renewable resources by 2030.

New Commissioners on PSC

The Senate on June 21 approved NYSERDA CEO John Rhodes to serve on the PSC, along with former state Sen. James Alesi and Philip Wilcox, an official with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a union that represents power plant workers. Cuomo has named Rhodes as chair of the commission.

The Senate also reconfirmed Diane Burman for a second six-year term as commissioner after her current term ends next February. The term of Gregg Sayre, who has been serving as interim chair of the commission, also ends next year.