Energy storage is making headlines and garnering attention from the public, electric utilities, lawmakers, and regulators. Reasons behind this interest include a variety of potential benefits to customers and the grid, and a dramatic decrease in costs for certain energy storage technologies. Energy storage also has the flexibility to be deployed at different points on the grid: from onsite at a residential, commercial, or industrial customer’s location (behind-the-meter or BTM), to in front of the meter co-located with other utility assets. Broader industry trends such as grid modernization, enhanced resiliency, growth of renewable energy and distributed energy resources (DER), and reevaluation of traditional rate design all typically include energy storage considerations.
This report outlines the values and challenges of BTM energy storage systems, from both the customer and utility point of view. The report focuses on lithium-ion battery storage because that is the predominant BTM energy storage technology. This report also includes highlights of recent federal and state activities, and utility case studies.
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