Energy storage is booming. Nearly 28 gigawatts of utility-scale energy storage has been added to the U.S. electric grid since 2017, and more than two-thirds of these facilities came online just in the past two years. In terms of MW, in 2024, storage additions were nearly 3.5 times the total for MW of wind, which was the second-most added capacity across the country. The Energy Information Administration is showing that again in 2025, energy storage additions will continue to rise, with more than 18 GW expected to be added this year.
Driving much of this development is the continued decrease in upfront costs for energy storage, and increasing room in the electricity markets for the services energy storage can provide. As energy storage becomes more in reach, more utilities are weighing whether pursuing energy storage makes sense for their community. As more utilities explore these technologies, various utility decision makers – including utility leadership, board members, city council members, and regulators – require information and education on the options, costs, benefits, and limitations surrounding storage projects.
One way to compile information that helps answer these questions is in a formal business case. A business case presents a recommended course of action to gain approval or support from decision makers. An effective business case explains the need, options, costs, risks, and benefits and provides a rationale for the preferred solution.
In consultation with the members of the Energy Storage Working Group, APPA created the Public Power Energy Storage Business Case Guide to help public power utility leaders to build business cases for implementing energy storage solutions. The guide walks through how a utility might want to structure its business case and what types of content to include into 16 sections, including need, financials, risk analysis, and retirement planning. It includes sample language, guidance for completing each section, and considerations for a utility when developing responses.
While a lot of effort goes into running the various scenarios associated with a new project, the actual business case should be a concise document that highlights the topline information. The guide recommends that the final business case be no more than 15 pages. When developing a business case, it is important to only include the information that is most relevant to the individual project and most important to the decision makers to whom the case is being presented. Depending on factors such as the motivation for the energy storage project, the system selected, the stage of development of the project, and the audience for the business case, a utility might not include all sections outlined in the guide as part of their case. Just as every community has their own unique needs to detail, what exactly the business case will look like will differ from one utility to the next.
A business case isn’t only helpful when formally proposing a project to your governing board. It may serve as a launching pad for utilities who are just beginning to explore the options for storage, or, for utilities who are further along in the process, a business case could be a tool to validate thought processes and challenge assumptions brought over from earlier planning stages that may no longer hold true. After all, the technology and costs are changing at a rapid pace, and it’s important to continually do your due diligence to ensure any path offers the right benefits to your community.
As you roll out your storage projects, we’d love to hear from you on what challenges you face in making decisions around energy storage, how you used the guide, and if there are other ways APPA can support you in understanding and implementing this technology.
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