On day one, Jim Woolsey, Venture Partner and Senior Advisor for VantagePoint Venture Partners and Former Director of the CIA, delivered a keynote address that focused on the theme of the role of energy storage in achieving energy independence and security. Panel discussions included the following topics:

1. Bringing Energy Storage to the Power Grid
2. State Regulatory Policy
3. Revising Regional Market Designs to Facilitate Storage: System Operators Views
4. Utility Perspectives on Implementing Energy Storage
5. Views of Storage Suppliers: What Policy and Market Change are Needed to Stimulate a Robust Storage Market?

On day two, Dr. Imre Gyuk, U.S. DOE Program Manager for Energy Storage Research, reported on ARRA stimulus funding initiatives and described research funding opportunities. With respect to the challenges facing DOE as it attempts to deploy massive amounts of funding, Gyuk stated, “It’s like trying to drink out of a fire hose.”

Many storage system developers reported that they are having problems “creating value” and monetizing their systems. These developers consistently called for a national storage portfolio standard similar to the RPS for renewable energy. This vibe created a lack of confidence in the attendees that were contemplating entering the market.

There was not much discussion of co-location of storage and renewable projects, but the wind and solar developers in attendance seemed open to the concept of co-location of storage if the price is right.

There was definitely a sense that the market is still in somewhat early stages.  However, a few days later, on July 16, 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a policy statement that identified energy storage as one of four grid functionalities that FERC views as key to the development of future standards that will apply to smart grid technologies.  Hopefully, FERC's support of the energy storage industry will stimulate further development and deployment of energy storage systems.

According to its Report, Huron based its analysis on a macro evaluation of the solar industry, expected program costs, and identification of key value drivers. Huron created a computer model based on a series of twelve inputs, including, amongst other things, hardware costs, installation costs, monitoring and maintenance costs, capacity factor, and cost of capital. Interestingly, the Huron Report projects that the cost per DC watt installed for solar generation will decline to $2.20-$2.40 in 2012. Additionally, the Huron Report predicts that thin film technologies will create more competition in the solar market and that “the realization of lower thin film manufacturing costs and scalability will put pricing pressure on traditional crystalline silicon PV technology manufacturers.” Huron ran 10,000 simulations through its model to compute the expected cost per kilowatt. The Huron Report concluded that the expected cost of implementing 400 MW of LADWP owned solar generation is $0.119 per kWh generated, which equates to an incremental rate increase of approximately one percent over LADWP’s existing financial plan.

The Los Angeles Times (1/29/09 editorial ) has criticized the process by which Measure B was placed on the ballot, pointing out that the City Council was not provided with the estimated cost of the project before it approved placing Measure B on the March 3, 2009 ballot. It remains to be seen whether the Huron Report allays these concerns.