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Promoting Pumped Storage Hydro Facilities

MCLI Recommendation: “Congress should define new, fast-track licensing parameters that apply only to pumped storage projects, or even just closed-loop systems.”

LPDD Recommendation: “State PUCs should direct their regulated electric utilities to evaluate the need for and benefits of grid-scale storage such as pumped storage hydro.”

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11 resources

Resource Executive Branch

Report, Pumped Storage: 5 Misperceptions About Licensing

The 2017 Water Power Magazine article, 5 Misperceptions About Licensing, surveys the extent to which mandatory licensing requirements apply to pumped storage projects.
Resource Congress

IEA report, Flexible hydropower providing value to renewable energy integration

IEA’s 2019 report, Flexible hydropower providing value to renewable energy integration, provides a global perspective on the need for flexibility to enable renewable integration and hydropower’s capab...
Example Executive Branch

FERC policy statement on pumped storage in transmission markets

FERC issued a 2017 policy statement affirming that storage resources (including pumped storage) can serve as transmission assets, and therefore receive multiple revenue streams in organized markets.
Example States and State Governments

California’s AB 33

California’s AB 33 (2016) requires the CPUC to evaluate the potential for all types of long-duration bulk energy storage resources, including pumped hydroelectric storage, to help integrate renewable ...
Example States and State Governments

Colorado’s HB 1052

This April 2021 legislation approved the inclusion of pumped hydroelectric energy generation in the definition of “eligible energy resources” for purposes of meeting Colorado’s renewable energy standa...
Example Executive Branch

HydroWIRES

DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office has launched a new grid research initiative—Hydropower and Water Innovation for a Resilient Electricity System (HydroWIRES)—to understand, enable, and improve hyd...
Example Executive Branch

FERC Order 890

FERC Order 890, Preventing Undue Discrimination and Preference in Transmission Service, required that non-generation resources be evaluated on a comparable basis to services provided by generation res...
Resource Congress

Proposed Community and Hydropower Improvement Act (S.1521, 2023)

In 2023, the Community and Hydropower Improvement Act (S.1521) was introduced in the U.S. Senate. This bill modifies requirements for hydropower projects, including by accelerating and coordinating th...
Resource Executive Branch

DOE report, Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization Report

DOE’s 2019 report, Energy Storage Technology and Cost Characterization, defines and evaluates cost and performance parameters of six battery energy storage technologies and four non-BESS storage techn...
Example Executive Branch

FERC rule on pumped storage in RTO and ISO markets

In 2018, FERC issued a final rule to allow energy storage resources (including pumped storage) to more fully participate in organized electricity markets by removing barriers to these resources in the...
Resource Congress

Report, Challenges and Opportunities for New Pumped Storage Development

The National Hydropower Association’s report, Challenges and Opportunities for New Pumped Storage Development, surveys the potential for hydropower pumped storage to support greater grid reliability, ...