OPINION:
Affordable and abundant American energy made the United States the global economic powerhouse it is today, and energy independence will be critical to our continued success.
That simple truth is at the heart of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders, with their commitment to promote policies that “protect the United States’s economic and national security and military preparedness by ensuring that an abundant supply of reliable energy is readily accessible in every State and territory of the Nation.”
Our nation’s electricity grids are powered by everything from coal and natural gas to hydro, geothermal, wind, solar, nuclear, and beyond. Ours is an all-of-the-above energy system. But it is straining to meet rapidly increasing (and increasingly dynamic) growth and power quality demands.
To strengthen this system and put the country on the path to true energy dominance, there is another crucial ingredient needed. We need long-duration, utility-scale energy storage that’s built to last and made on our soil. With the right kind of storage in place, America can maximize the energy-generating capacity of all our existing resources listed above, equipping the grid to adapt to changing demands and evolving technology.
The good news is that the energy storage industry is ready to meet this challenge. But we can’t get there without smart policies and strategic support.
In Kern County, California one of America’s leading energy-producing regions Hydrostor is currently hard at work to put the country on the path towards true energy dominance. Our flagship investment, the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, will provide 500 MW of capacity and more than eight hours of energy storage for Central California through its proven technology Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES).
Hydrostor’s approach to storing energy is simple and ready. When excess power is available on the grid, we use it to pump compressed air into large underground caverns, where it’s stored as future energy. When the grid needs that power back, we reverse the storage process. Innovations like heat capture and hydrostatic pressure improve our efficiency and allow us to site projects where they’re needed close to load centers and transmission lines.
But the big news is about the actual impact.
With the Kern County project the first of many in our 7-gigawatt pipeline we’ll employ more than 6,500 people (700 on-site at peak) during our 60-month construction phase, with a payroll of nearly $500 million. Once operational, Willow Rock will sustain approximately 40 highly skilled, full-time jobs for the entirety of the plant’s more than 50-year lifespan. Even better, this project can be replicated in any state and strategically located to best serve regional energy needs.
This type of innovation is what our nation’s energy system and economy need. As the USA works to onshore industrial production rapidly, Willow Rock will draw on critical domestic supply chains and our deep pool of skilled labor from the oil and gas sector, all while reducing reliance on foreign rare-earth minerals, and fostering greater energy security, reliability, and resilience.
Our project and others like it have real momentum, but we can’t build the future of energy in a vacuum.
It takes years for large infrastructure projects like these to navigate the complexities of permitting, financing, and construction. Private capital initially balks at these extended timelines, especially given the nascent nature of many promising energy storage technologies. Before making big, long-term commitments, investors look for a supportive ecosystem and evidence of broader buy-in.
In the case of Willow Rock, some of that ecosystem is already in place. Incentives including the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit ( 48E) and the Domestic Content Bonus Credit have helped create a favorable environment for the project, by offering significant tax advantages to qualified investments in energy storage technology.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office continues to be a vital partner in advancing Willow Rock, providing a conditional commitment of up to $1.76 billion in loan guarantees to get the project built which will help to stabilize the grid, ensure reliable energy, and reduce consumer electricity costs. This is simply return on investment.
As we look to make good on the spirit of President Trump’s executive orders, we need to ensure that programs like these continue and grow.
Make no mistake; this is not about a government giveaway. It is about government as a partner in American progress. Incentives don’t just move energy independence forward; they move the American economy forward.
Tax incentives and loan guarantees are smart investments in the future America deserves: one where an abundant supply of reliable energy is readily accessible to meet American needs and maintain global energy leadership, where robust supply chains reduce reliance on adversarial nations, and where skilled American tradespeople build thriving lives for themselves and their families as they build and maintain modern energy infrastructure for all of us.
• Scott Bolton is executive vice president for Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Hydrostor.
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