On June 30, 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Energy
Resources (DOER) announced that Massachusetts would adopt an
aspirational 200 megawatt-hour (MWh) energy storage target to be
achieved by January 1, 2020. The target is the second largest in
the nation, although it is far lower than California's 1.3
gigawatt storage mandate. Still, Massachusetts' storage target
will make the commonwealth a leader in the burgeoning energy
storage field.
The process of setting storage targets began last summer, when
Massachusetts enacted a law directing DOER to determine whether to
set targets for electric companies to procure energy storage
systems by January 1, 2020. In September 2016, Massachusetts
released a report called the "State of Charge," which
recommended the installation of 600 megawatts (MW) of energy
storage by 2025. The report predicted that 600 MW of storage could
capture $800 million in system benefits to Massachusetts
ratepayers. The energy storage industry
