Full Title: Institutional and Policy Landscape for Solar-Plus-Storage Deployment by Electric Cooperatives
Author(s): David Sarkisian, Jill K. Cliburn
Publisher(s): North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center , Solar-Plus for Electric Co-ops, Cliburn and Associates, LLC
Publication Date: July 1, 2021
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Description (excerpt):
As co–location with battery storage has become a significant solar project–design trend across the United States, policies at all levels have started to adjust. Generally, these policies address battery storage development in major, urban markets, served by large investor–owned utilities (IOUs). Yet all kinds of utilities nationwide are seeking ways to tap into the fast–growing battery storage market, and they are all stakeholders in the federal, state and local policies that impact the storage market’s development. The
electric cooperative sector, which includes some 830 distribution utilities and 63 generating and transmission (G&T) utilities across a mostly rural landscape, is no exception. It is impacted by federal, state, and local government policy requirements and incentives, as well as by policies that are controlled by the sector’s own institutions.
The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss the various policy and institutional factors that are relevant to the electric cooperative sector, and especially to local, distribution–level electric cooperatives (co–ops) that may be interested in procuring energy storage.