Massachusetts Announces 200 MWh Energy Storage Procurement Target

On June 30, 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources ("DOER") informed the Massachusetts Legislature of its adoption of a 200 MWh energy storage target for electric distribution companies ("EDCs") to procure "viable and cost-effective energy storage systems" within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. DOER specified that the target is to be achieved by January 1, 2020, and would permit EDCs to identify the most cost-effective applications and the best locations for energy storage deployment, including both in front of the meter and behind the meter applications.

DOER's announcement of the target was in accordance with comprehensive energy legislation signed into law in August 2016. With regard to energy storage, the legislation required, among other things, that DOER determine if energy storage goals are prudent for the Commonwealth and, if so, to set a procurement target for 2020.

In its letter to the Massachusetts legislature, DOER stated that the energy storage procured under the 200 MWh target would "serve as a crucial demonstration phase to further the Commonwealth's knowledge of the potential...