CESA partnering with CA Attorney General and Assemblymember Skinner to promote energy storage

Vital New Legislation Creates Green Jobs and Puts 
California in Forefront of Future Smart Electric Grid 
Attorney General Jerry Brown and Assemblymember Nancy Skinner 
Introduce AB 2514 to Make the Smart Grid a Reality with California 
Becoming Leader in Clean, Cost-Effective Energy Storage 

PRESS RELEASE

February 25, 2010

Berkeley, CA – Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-14), Chair, 
Committee on Natural Resources, working in partnership with California Attorney General 
Edmund G. Brown Jr., has introduced AB 2514 – new legislation that will create a smarter, 
cleaner electric grid, increase the use of renewable energy, provide Californians with 
significant savings by avoiding costly new power plants and transmission lines, and reduce 
air pollution. This transformative legislation will also create thousands of permanent new 
green-collar jobs. 
 AB 2514 will achieve these benefits by closing the gap between the United States and 
other nations in investments and deployments of energy storage, a booming “green” 
industry that represents a significant economic development opportunity for California. 
 By mandating that utilities incorporate energy storage capacity – 2.25% of daytime 
peak demand for power by 2014 and 5% of peak demand by 2020 – the bill will provide 
much-needed lower electricity costs to consumers. Greater use of energy storage will 
provide the State with a cleaner and less costly alternative to the high costs of generating 
and supplying primarily fossil fuel-based power for only part-time daytime peak demand for 
power. 
 “Energy storage is the future—it’s a fast-growing clean technology industry that will 
save the state money and reduce pollution,” said Attorney General Jerry Brown, the bill’s 
sponsor. “What’s even better is that this new technology could create 8,500 new jobs in 
California during the next decade.” 
 “We applaud Assemblymember Skinner and Attorney General Brown’s leadership in 
introducing this essential legislation. This bill will put California at the forefront of a growing 
global market that will spur economic development. Given major advances in energy 
storage, the industry is now ready to provide high-technology, affordable, reliable products 
for California’s utilities and consumers,” noted Janice Lin, Director of the California Energy 
Storage Alliance. 
 Currently, California uses fossil fuel-burning backup power plants, as well as coal-fired 
power imported from other states, to help meet its relentlessly growing demand for daytime 
peak power. This is costly, inefficient and harmful to California’s air quality. Wider scale 
deployment of clean, cost-effective energy storage will enable California to reduce pollution 
from greenhouse gases and smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) by reducing the need for 
fossil fuel-based peaking powerplants and imported coal-fired power. Further, energy 
storage will increase the value and use of intermittent renewable power such as wind and 
solar, which often relies on fossil fuel-based backup power. However, California is lagging 
behind other states in energy storage deployment. AB 2514 is available at:
www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2501-2550/ab_2514_bill_20100219_introduced.pdf

Contact: Janice Lin, Director 
California Energy Storage Alliance 
415.595.8301 
jlin@storagealliance.org