S. 1602 would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a research, development, and deployment program for energy storage systems. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $280 million annually over the 2020-2024 period for those purposes.
Under S. 1602, DOE would:
Enter into agreements to carry out demonstration projects for energy storage systems;
Establish a competitive grant program to help state governments, tribal governments, institutions of higher education, or utilities carry out demonstration projects for energy storage systems;
Establish a joint program with the Department of Defense aimed at improving the performance of energy storage technologies designed for extended operations;
Provide technical, financial, and planning assistance to help certain electric cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, and utilities procure energy storage systems; and
Award competitive prizes for advancing the recycling of critical energy storage materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite.
Based on historical rates of spending for similar activities, and assuming appropriation of the specified amounts, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1602 would cost $995 million over the 2020-2024 period and $405 million after 2024. The costs of the legislation (detailed in Table 1) fall within budget function 270 (energy).
In 2019, the Congress appropriated $46 million to DOE’s Office of Electricity for research on energy storage technologies.
