Maryland Passes Energy Storage Tax Credit
Maryland on April 10 became the first state in the nation to pass legislation enacting a tax credit for residential and commercial energy storage installations.
The measure passed unanimously in the state Senate, and with a 101–11 vote in the House. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is expected to sign SB 758 into law.
The bill offers up to $5,000 for residential installations, $150,000 for commercial installations, or 30% of the total cost of installations. Credits can only be claimed for systems installed between January 2018 and December 2022. The tax credit applies to all energy storage technologies.
Earlier this week, Maryland also passed HB 773, which calls for an energy storage technology study to determine how Maryland can use energy storage to open the path to a more reliable electric system.
According to the Energy Storage Association, in 2016, commercial deployment of energy storage systems grew more than 100% over the previous year and installed system costs plummeted another 30%.
A series of states have recently implemented measures that will boost energy storage installations. California, which enacted a mandate in 2014, requires utilities to procure 1,325 MW of energy storage by 2020. Oregon’s Public Utility Commission earlier this year issued guidelines under the 2015-enacted HB 2193, a law that requires Oregon utilities Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp to have a minimum of 5 MWh of energy storage in service by January 2020.
Massachusetts, in August 2016, meanwhile, became the third U.S. state to enact an energy storage mandate, though the exact volume that must be procured by January 2020 won’t be decided by the state Department of Energy Resources until this summer.
New York City in September 2016 unveiled the first citywide mandate, aiming for an energy storage goal of 100 MWh by 2020. Hawaii, which recently passed a 100% by 2045 renewable energy mandate, saw its state legislature introduce bills on energy storage tax credits and infrastructure loans.
—Sonal Patel, associate editor (@POWERmagazine, @sonalcpatel)