Rhode Island Governor Signs Energy Storage Systems Act of 2024

Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee has signed the Energy Storage Systems Act of 2024 into law, with the goal of achieving a 100% clean energy future.

“Energy storage is flexible, reliable, affordable and will be a game-changer for Rhode Island’s power grid,” said Kat Burnham, Rhode Island State Director of Advanced Energy United, a national business association. “Investing in energy storage technologies will drive economic development and clean energy job creation.”

The energy system is undergoing a clean energy transformation in Rhode Island and throughout New England. While flexible resources like storage are essential to deploying more renewable energy and meeting future reliability requirements, energy storage is a mature technology that helps reduce the burden on the electric grid and creates savings opportunities for ratepayers.

Here are some important elements of the Act:

Storage goals: Rhode Island sets energy storage goals of 90 MW by 2026, 195 MW by 2028 and 600 MW by 2033.

Infrastructure Programs: The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank will develop programs to facilitate the deployment of energy storage across all sectors.

· Storage System Purchases: Allows the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission to require distribution companies to purchase cost-effective storage systems.

Policymakers are making good on their commitments to grow Rhode Island’s clean economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by signing the Energy Storage Systems Act (Senate Bill 2499 and House Bill 7811).