Collins, King Welcome Almost $3 Billion in Renewable Energy Storage Funding from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Senator Collins was a member of the core group of 10 Senators who negotiated the infrastructure package

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today celebrated news that the Biden administration will invest $2.91 billion through the bipartisan infrastructure law to increase the domestic production of batteries and energy storage technologies. The funds will specifically be used to boost battery manufacturing and energy storage research in the United States, which will support renewable energy development, create good-paying jobs, and ease reliance on foreign competitors. American companies looking to apply through the Department of Energy process can find more information HERE.

Senator Collins was part of the core group of 10 Senators who negotiated the text of the bipartisan infrastructure law. Senators Collins and King both worked to negotiate and pass the historic infrastructure package that is providing the funds, and have advocated for improvements in battery technologies as a way to confront the challenges of climate change and create jobs.

“Energy storage technology holds such great promise in the fight against climate change. By strengthening current technology and advancing next-generation energy storage, we can integrate more renewables, such as wind and solar, which in turn will help to reduce emissions,” said Senator Collins. “This investment in clean energy storage technologies—in conjunction with the Better Energy Storage Technology Act I authored to guide battery research efforts—will help substantially reduce the cost of these technologies, improve the efficiency of our nation’s electric grid, and bring us closer to a clean energy future. As a key negotiator of the bipartisan infrastructure package, I am delighted that this new law will help make energy supplies more secure, abundant, and affordable while creating new jobs.”

“Improvements to battery technologies are key to unlocking our clean energy future. When we can efficiently store and distribute renewable energy – even when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow – we will open a whole new world of possibilities for our economy and our environment,” said Senator King. “Investing in this infrastructure of the future right here in America will fight climate change, strengthen America’s leadership in the technologies of the future, create good paying jobs in our own communities and reduce our reliance on foreign fossil fuel exporters. It is, in every aspect, an investment well-worth making. This is why I’ve made storage technology research one of my top priorities in Congress, and why I am particularly excited about with new investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that bring us closer to our clean future than ever before. I look forward to seeing the impacts of this truly important funding and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill’s continued support for Maine and America.”

Funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law will allow the U.S. Department of Energy to support the creation of new, retrofitted, and expanded domestic facilities for battery recycling and the production of battery materials, cell components, and battery manufacturing. The funding will also support research, development, and demonstration of second-life applications for batteries once used to power EVs, as well as new processes for recycling, reclaiming, and adding materials back into the battery supply chain. 

Senator Collins has been a longstanding champion of clean energy and battery storage technologies. In December 2020, her bipartisan legislation to accelerate the development of next-generation energy storage was signed into law. The Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act will support grid-scale energy storage research and development and improve the efficiency of the nation’s electric grid, while helping to align research efforts on energy storage technologies.  Senator Collins secured $460 million—a historic level of funding—for energy storage research in the Fiscal Year 2022 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. In March 2021, Senator Collins introduced the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act to establish an investment tax credit (ITC) for business and home use of energy storage.  She is also a co-author of the American Energy Opportunity Act, a bipartisan bill to provide state and local governments with voluntary tools to expedite and standardize the permitting process for distributed energy technologies, such as battery storage.

Senator King has long advocated for improving battery technology as a way to fight climate change and create good-paying American jobs. Last year, he introduced the Battery Material Processing and Component Manufacturing Act, to boost domestic production of batteries, and the Battery and Critical Mineral Recycling Act of 2021, to incentivize the recycling of single use and rechargeable batteries. He is also the lead sponsor of the Joint Long-Term Storage Act which seeks to speed up deployment of long-duration energy storage technologies through strategic collaboration between federal agencies. As a member of the bipartisan G22, a group of 22 Senators from both parties heavily involved in the negotiation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill – and the leader of a bipartisan Oval Office meeting early in the process – Senator King worked hard to include funding for clean energy technologies, broadband, roads and bridges, and more in the historic package.

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