Exclusive: Solar industry launches new push on storage
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The Solar Energy Industries Association, the sector's main lobbying group, is ramping up its advocacy for policies that help deploy storage.
Why it matters: Utility-scale battery storage enables higher levels of renewables on grids and helps meet demand peaks.
- A number of companies — including SEIA members — are involved in both tech areas.
- And on the residential level, roughly 40% of the home solar systems installed last year also included storage, per SEIA data.
Driving the news: "SEIA is doubling down on our advocacy for energy storage at the federal, state, and local level," Abigail Ross Hopper, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement.
State of play: The new efforts, shared first with Axios, span steps like...
- An increase in the number of state-based lobbyists.
- A more detailed policy agenda.
- New advertising focused on storage, and first-time sponsorship of storage conferences.
- A new online resource hub to help companies and policymakers.
Catch up quick: Grid-scale and home storage are growing fast, and they haven't attracted the same ire from Trump officials as solar by itself and wind.
- Grid-scale storage has grown 400% since 2023, per SEIA.
- The research firm Wood Mackenzie projects 93 gigawatts of capacity across segments arriving over the next five years, despite a near-term market slowdown.
"[Storage] is a key driver of manufacturing and job growth in communities across America. And it is critical to American economic competitiveness on the global stage," Ross Hopper said.
Yes, but: Advocates see various barriers and threats to even faster deployment. SEIA's policy agenda includes steps like...
- Fighting for "fair valuation" in regional power capacity markets that considers storage's ability to help meet demand peaks.
- Working with state lawmakers and regulators to ensure utilities fairly compensate storage for various grid services it provides, like smoothing peaks.
- So-called "flexible interconnection tariffs" that enable faster and less costly grid access.
- Focusing on the Treasury Department to ensure granular rules that tether tax incentives to avoiding materials from "foreign entities of concern" — largely China — are "reasonable and attainable."
What we're watching: Signs of fresh traction for the tech, but also the various players in the lobbying world.
- Other trade and lobbying groups, notably the American Clean Power Association and U.S. Energy Storage Coalition, also represent storage interests.
- SEIA is hosting a day-long policy forum on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to fix the name of the U.S. Energy Storage Coalition.
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