MN SF3266

Public utilities may petition the Public Utilities Commission to recover costs for energy storage system pilot projects if they submit a detailed report including technology type, capacity, location, costs, grid interaction, and project goals, and the commission determines the project is in the public interest.

Each investor-owned utility must include an assessment of energy storage systems in their integrated resource plans, analyzing storage as both transmission and distribution resources and as alternatives to generation resources, with storage alternatives required in any new resource acquisition analysis.

The commissioner of commerce must contract with an independent consultant to produce a cost-benefit analysis of energy storage systems by December 31, 2018, examining ratepayer savings, customer cost savings, renewable integration, reliability, greenhouse gas emissions, and retail rate impacts.

The bill appropriates $150,000 from the renewable development account in fiscal year 2019 to fund the energy storage systems cost-benefit analysis.

Defines "energy storage system" as commercially available stationary technology that absorbs, stores, and delivers energy later, capable of reducing peak demand, deferring infrastructure investments, or improving grid reliability.