CHANGING THE GAME: UTILITY-SCALE ENERGY STORAGE
Montana boasts the nation’s second-highest wind energy potential and fourthhighest solar energy potential. Developing these resources will be essential to decarbonizing our energy system. These energy sources are variable by nature: abundantly available when the wind blows and the sun shines, and less available in low-wind periods or when the sun isn’t out. This doesn’t mean these resources can’t support a reliable electric grid, but instead means we need to change how we manage the grid and approach reliability. Along with regional power sharing to take advantage of complimentary weather patterns across the West, energy storage systems are essential to capture renewable energy when it is available in abundance so it can later be discharged when it is most needed. While utilities in other states rush to bolster reliability through investments into increasingly affordable energy storage technology, NorthWestern Energy has been caught flat-footed with no energy storage system currently operating, in development, or planned. (Meanwhile, Texas leads the country in new battery storage deployment in 2024 at 6.4 gigawatts (GW) of planned new power capacity development.)
December 2024
www.meic.org