Last October, when California passed AB 2514 mandating statewide targets for renewable energy storage, the policy took square aim at creating a cleaner electric grid by ensuring individuals and companies increase the use of renewable energy. The motive is clear – to accelerate demand for battery and storage technologies by guaranteeing a broader market – but there still remain significant challenges in both the definition and deployment of energy storage technologies. In this onsite panel discussion, energy experts delve into the broader aspects of energy storage, including transmission and distribution implications, and help define what it means for California – and others – to develop applications and technologies to store and use renewable energy.

9:00am:    Networking Breakfast

9:30am:    Panel Discussion Begins

1.    Applications for Grid Storage 

• What are the various energy storage technologies in terms of size, scale, timeframe, and cost?
• Will energy storage be needed in deploying applications for integrating renewables? (i.e. resolving intermittency, ramping and load-shaping, etc.)
• In regards to the passage of AB 2514, what are the next steps? Hear perspectives from utilities, regulators, and industry players.
• How can energy storage optimize the electric grid?

2.    Challenges of Energy Storage

• Are renewable portfolio standards (RPS) achievable without energy storage?
• Despite intial high costs, energy storage offers clear benefits to the electric grid. How will the market measure and apply energy storage benefits? And how can the industry effectively communicate those benefits?
• What macroeconomic trends (fuel prices, wholesale electricity prices, proliferation of grid-tiered renewables, etc.) affect the energy storage market?

3.    Opportunities & Action

• What are the lessons learned and key details on recent energy storage pilot projects?
• How does the industry move beyond pilot projects?
• Which energy storage technologies hold the most promise for grid-scale deployments?
• How can policy and financial incentives help push the market forward?

11:00am:    Audience Q&A 

11:30am:    Networking 

12:00pm:    End of Meeting

Speakers:

Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC), Rafael Reyes, Director

UC Berkeley/UCLA Schools of Law, Ethan Elkind, Energy Storage Vision Project Principal Investigator

Black & Veatch Corporation, Dr. Eric C. Woychik, Director, Strategy Practice & Electric Industry Lead

CPUC, Aloke Gupta, Senior Energy Analyst, Energy Division

Moderator:

PRTM, Tom Solazzo, Director

Download the Agenda

Location and Directions:

Garden Court Hotel @ 520 Cowper St. in Palo Alto, CA

Driving: From 101 (North or South): Exit University Avenue, go west. Make a left onto Cowper Street. Hotel is on the right-hand side on the first block.
From 280 (North or South): Exit Sand Hill Road, head east. Turn right onto Arboretum Road. Make a left onto Palm, which turns into University Avenue. Turn right onto Cowper Street. Hotel is on the right side on the first block.

Public Transit:Take Caltrain to the Palo Alto stop. Upon leaving the train station follow University Avenue 0.4 miles (6 blocks) to Cowper St. and turn right. The Garden Court is half of a block down on the right hand side.

Registration:

Log in to www.agrion.org or create a new profile.  Register directly in the section of the program.

Please contact derek.top@agrion.org for any further questions.