The U.S. energy storage market grew 40 percent last year and GTM Research expects it to surge another 250 percent this year. Today, the landscape is dominated by a handful of state and regional markets. However, for the U.S. to reach its full potential, storage needs to be deployed outside of these few markets, and in its latest edition of the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, GTM Research identified five emerging states where storage will begin to take hold.

Since 2013, the top two markets in each segment have made up at least 79 percent of the segment volume. PJM territory (excluding New Jersey) and California together have deployed 99 megawatts of the total 115 megawatts deployed in the U.S. since the first quarter of 2013.

FIGURE: Top Energy Storage Markets by Segment, Q1 2013-Q1 2015





Source: GTM Research / ESA U.S. Energy Storage Monitor

To move from nascent to mainstream, more states will need to have a healthy energy storage market. We're still a long ways away, but Senior Energy Storage Analyst Ravi Manghani is tracking five states outside of the well-known markets that are likely to yield future deployments.

Here's a quick snapshot of recent energy storage developments across the five states.



Source: GTM Research / ESA U.S. Energy Storage Monitor

Illinois

A bill introduced to the Illinois state legislature in March would let Commonwealth Edison, the state's largest utility, invest $300 million in six microgrid projects. The microgrids would be installed over the next five years and use different combinations of solar PV, fuel cells, energy storage and wind.

Maryland

In February of this year, the Maryland House took up a bill that would have required the state's Public Service Commission to establish a pilot program encouraging the use of battery systems that store energy from solar, wind, biomass, methane or ocean sources. Manghani cautions, however, that the bill received an unfavorable report from the House Economic Matters Committee and did not move forward.

The Maryland Energy Administration is also reviewing applications for projects demonstrating cost-effective and scalable dynamic energy control involving technologies including energy storage. Awards will be granted for $100,000 to $500,000 per project, up to $2.5 million in total.

Massachusetts

Last week Massachusetts proposed a $10 million energy storage program, dubbed the Energy Storage Initiative. Part of the funding will go to studies aimed at understanding the energy storage landscape and opportunity. Additionally, money will be allocated to both residential and utility storage projects.

Oregon

In January 2015, a bill was introduced to the Oregon House that declares an emergency and requires the PUC to adopt guidelines by 2017 for utilities to procure energy storage systems. Additionally, it directs utilities, once authorized by the PUC, to procure one or more systems of at least 5 megawatts by 2020. The bill is currently in committee.

In May, the Oregon Department of Energy announced that $250,000 of federal funding is available for an electrical energy storage demonstration project.

Washington

Washington's Clean Energy Fund was created in 2013 to expand clean energy projects and technologies throughout the state. In the first quarter of this year, two energy storage projects that will be financed through a portion of the $40 million fund were commissioned.

According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, released last week, the U.S. deployed 5.8 megawatts in the first quarter of 2015.

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Delivered quarterly, the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor is the industry’s only comprehensive research on energy storage markets, deployments, policies and financing in the U.S. These in-depth reports provide energy industry professionals, policymakers, government agencies and financiers with consistent, actionable insight into the burgeoning U.S. energy storage market. Learn more at www.energystoragemonitor.com.