On January 21, 2025, Will McNamara moderated a panel discussion on long-duration energy storage (LDES) policies during the first day of the IEEE Energy Storage Applications and Technologies (EESAT) conference, at the request of David Rosewater, Organizing Committee Chair.
The 90-minute session featured a diverse group of panelists, including Alyssa McQuilling, Research & Innovation Manager at the Consortium for Battery Innovation; Roger Miksad, President and Executive Director of Battery Council International; Kieran Claffey, Sr. Research Engineer at Southern Company Services; and Russ Weed, President of CleanTech Strategies. The discussion provided a deep dive into the perspectives on developing and utilizing policies to expand LDES deployment, incorporating insights from battery-focused trade organizations, one of the largest utilities in the U.S., and the financial investment community.
This panel was important because the IEEE EESAT conference primarily focuses on technology, making it crucial to convey that policy reform is often a necessary steppingstone toward bringing new energy storage technologies to the marketplace. The panel generated discussions on the extent to which state policies are essential for advancing energy storage, as exemplified by California, compared to states like Texas, where business dynamics have played a more significant role.
The EESAT conference aims to foster a multi-discipline, systems-oriented, collaborative environment for energy storage researchers and professionals. It encourages sharing ideas and finding collaborative solutions to significant challenges in energy storage. EESAT seeks to address all aspects of electrical energy storage, including technology and its real-world applications to improve grid resilience and create a cleaner, more efficient system.
For further inquiries, please contact Will McNamara.
For more information, please visit the EESAT agenda here.
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.
Sandia National Laboratories is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.