If New Jersey can improve the effectiveness of energy storage, it could substantially cut costs and increase reliability. That’s why the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) is supporting legislation approved by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee today to study how energy storage could help New Jersey.
Under the bill, S-3064 (Smith, D-17; Thompson, R-12), the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) would conduct an energy storage analysis in consultation with the Laboratory for Energy Smart Systems at Rutgers.
“Better energy storage could cut air emissions and reduce the cost of energy at the same time by improving the efficiency of our electric grid,” said Sara Bluhm, NJBIA vice president of Environment and Energy. “Better energy storage would allow us to build up a reserve of energy to be used when the demand is high, like during the summer when air conditioners run.
“Technology advances have made electricity storage a possible solution to help manage the grid,” Bluhm said. “But making changes to the electric grid is not a simple matter. That’s why we need to start studying this issue now.”
Energy storage comes in two forms: the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time, and “distributed energy resources,” which are smaller power sources that can be aggregated to provide power necessary to meet electricity demand.
In addition to summarizing its analysis of energy storage, BPU would be required to quantify the potential benefits and costs associated with increasing opportunities for energy storage and recommend ways to go about it. The bill specifically asks the BPU to address the feasibility of financial incentives to aid in the development and implementation of these technologies by public and private entities in the state.
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