Please join Acting Commissioner Anastasia Palivos for a Policy Session exploring the future of energy storage.

One of the biggest challenges facing the integration of renewable energy resources like wind, solar, and other alternatives, is a lack in commensurate development of energy storage technology and deployment.

While capital costs of renewable energy integration have decreased, the high cost associated with widespread energy storage technology, along with other regulatory permitting and utility-related design barriers, remains an issue.

While Illinois' Future Energy Jobs Act created an opportunity for increased renewable energy procurement, and the state is already seeing more renewable development, one piece of the puzzle is missing: increased energy storage technology and streamlined regulations for steady growth of a more resilient grid.

This ICC Policy Session will feature panels intended to provide an overview of the technology and history of energy storage; discuss how different types of energy storage operate and integrate with the electric grid; consider the current legal and regulatory framework; and how best practices employed in other states may help Illinois match its renewable resources expansion with sufficient energy storage for grid efficiency.