New York Publishes Roadmap for 6 GW of Energy Storage by 2030

By Christian Roselund

Two New York State agencies involved with energy have completed a roadmap to facilitate the state’s deployment of 6 GW of energy storage by 2030. New York’s 6 GW Energy Storage Roadmap: Policy Options for Continued Growth in Energy Storage proposes the creation of a new Index Storage Credit program for bulk storage, and expansions of existing residential and retail programs. It also calls for a new requirement for utilities to study the ability of energy storage to provide grid services at lower costs than other options. Finally, it proposes continued state research, development, and demonstration for technologies that can provide long-duration energy storage.

The Roadmap is a response by the Department of Public Service (DPS) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to New York Governor Kathy Hochul raising the state’s target for energy storage. The previous target of 3 gigawatts by 2030 was mandated by legislation, and Hochul raised this to 6 gigawatts in January 2022. The roadmap also responds to the state’s interim goal to deploy 1.5 gigawatts of energy storage by 2025 as well as its mandate to reach 70% renewables in electricity by 2030.

NYSERDA and DPS count the 1.301 gigawatts of energy storage that has been awarded or contracted as of October 2022 towards the 6-gigawatt target, despite only .13 gigawatts being deployed to date. As such, the programs aim to support the remaining 4.699 gigawatts of storage.

The Roadmap calls for the Index Storage Credit Program to deliver 3 gigawatts of the 6 gigawatt goal. NYSERDA and DPS describe this program as being similar to the Indexed Renewable Energy Credit (REC) program that the state uses for most of its clean energy procurements. Unlike these RECs, the Indexed Storage Credit would pay for capacity, not energy delivered, with payments for each megawatt-hour of energy storage that is available on a given day. These payments would also be based on strike prices minus reference prices, ensuring that the projects would remain exposed to price signals from energy markets.

NYSERDA and DPS recommend continuing the Retail Storage Incentive program to procure an additional 1.5 gigawatts of energy storage by 2030. This program provides region-specific, declining block-grant incentives, similar to the NY-SUN incentives for solar. For residential storage, the state aims to deploy 200 megawatts by 2030. While the Roadmap was not as clear on the final form of residential incentives, it references an existing program by utility Long Island Power Authority.

The Roadmap estimates that these three programs combined will cost ratepayers $1.0-$1.7 billion by 2030. This includes $438 million for the retail program, $72 million for the residential program, and an estimate of between $474 million and $1.186 billion for the bulk procurement program. The report notes that the range of these projections represent future uncertainties, notably around energy and capacity prices. This cost amounts to $0.34 – $0.58 per month for the average residential customer, averaged across New York for the 22-year period where subsidies will be needed.

Source: New York’s 6 GW Energy Storage Roadmap: Policy Options for Continued Growth in Energy Storage (DPS, NYSERDA)