Despite the remarkable progress made in renewable energy over the past decade, particularly wind and solar energy installations, an overarching problem remains: these resources generate power intermittently. So what happens when the wind slows down and the sun isn’t shining? Right now, utilities rely on traditional resources like coal and gas to meet the demand.

The American Energy Innovation Act tackles that challenge head-on by establishing an energy storage research, development and deployment program at the Department of Energy. Besides encouraging research into innovative new technologies, the program establishes demonstration projects and pilot grant programs, a long-duration demonstration initiative, technical planning and assistance, and regulatory actions to encourage deployment.