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House Passes BEST Act as Part of Infrastructure Package

July 1, 2020

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the House passed the H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, legislation that would make major investments in infrastructure. The final package included the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act introduced by Rep. Foster (D-IL). The legislation would authorize $45 million to support the creation of three public-private partnership projects to develop energy storage technology that is commercially viable and can adequately support the electrical grid. Much of the most advanced work in battery storage technology is being led by Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

The BEST Act would direct the Secretary of Energy to establish aggressive "moonshot" goals to develop improved capacity and lower costs for grid-scale storage. While the Department of Energy has issued grants to promote better battery storage, funding has not been able to support the research needed for breakthroughs in technology capable of transforming the electrical grid.

"Thanks to sustained funding for federal scientific research, the United States became a leader in technology and innovation. Energy storage is one of the great frontiers in new technology that could transform our country's energy sector as we move to more environmentally sustainable energy models," Foster said. "This bipartisan measure will provide a much needed boost for research on energy storage that could pave the way for the next big development in battery technology to transform our country's electrical grid, like the work being done at Argonne National Lab in my district. I am proud that the BEST Act passed the House as part of H.R. 2"

The text of the BEST Act is available here.