II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3617 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an energy 

investment credit for energy storage property connected to the grid, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2010 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for an energy investment credit for energy storage property connected to the grid, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Storage Technology 

5 for Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2010’’ or the 

6 ‘‘STORAGE 2010 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENERGY INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR ENERGY STOR2 AGE PROPERTY CONNECTED TO THE GRID. 

3 (a) UP TO 20 PERCENT CREDIT ALLOWED.—Sub4 paragraph (A) of section 48(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue 

5 Code of 1986 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause 

7 (IV) of clause (i), 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘clause (i)’’ in clause (ii) and in9 serting ‘‘clause (i) or (ii)’’, 

10 (3) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii), 

11 and 

12 (4) by inserting after clause (i) the following 

13 new clause: 

14 ‘‘(ii) as provided in subsection 

15 (c)(5)(D), up to 20 percent in the case of 

16 qualified energy storage property, and’’. 

17 (b) QUALIFIED ENERGY STORAGE PROPERTY.—Sub18 section (c) of section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

19 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED ENERGY STORAGE PROP22 ERTY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

24 energy storage property’ means property— 

25 ‘‘(i) which is directly connected to the 

26 electrical grid, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) which is designed to receive elec2 trical energy, to store such energy, and— 

3 ‘‘(I) to convert such energy to 

4 electricity and deliver such electricity 

5 for sale, or 

6 ‘‘(II) to use such energy to pro7 vide improved reliability or economic 

8 benefits to the grid. 

9 Such term may include hydroelectric pumped 

10 storage and compressed air energy storage, re11 generative fuel cells, batteries, superconducting 

12 magnetic energy storage, flywheels, thermal en13 ergy storage systems, and hydrogen storage, or 

14 combination thereof, or any other technologies 

15 as the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec16 retary of Energy, shall determine. 

17 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM CAPACITY.—The term 

18 ‘qualified energy storage property’ shall not in19 clude any property unless such property in ag20 gregate has the ability to sustain a power rat21 ing of at least 1 megawatt for a minimum of 

22 1 hour. 

23 ‘‘(C) ELECTRICAL GRID.—The term ‘elec24 trical grid’ means the system of generators, 


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1 transmission lines, and distribution facilities 

2 which— 

3 ‘‘(i) are under the jurisdiction of the 

4 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or 

5 State public utility commissions, or 

6 ‘‘(ii) are owned by— 

7 ‘‘(I) the Federal government, 

8 ‘‘(II) a State or any political sub9 division of a State, 

10 ‘‘(III) an electric cooperative that 

11 receives financing under the Rural 

12 Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 

13 901 et seq.) or that sells less than 

14 4,000,000 megawatt hours of elec15 tricity per year, or 

16 ‘‘(IV) any agency, authority, or 

17 instrumentality of any one or more of 

18 the entities described in subclause (I) 

19 or (II), or any corporation which is 

20 wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by 

21 any one or more of such entities. 

22 ‘‘(D) ALLOCATION OF CREDITS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 

24 qualified energy storage property placed in 

25 service during the taxable year, the credit 


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1 otherwise determined under subsection (a) 

2 for such year with respect to such property 

3 shall not exceed the amount allocated to 

4 such project under clause (ii). 

5 ‘‘(ii) NATIONAL LIMITATION AND AL6 LOCATION.—There is a qualified energy 

7 storage property investment credit limita8 tion of $1,500,000,000. Such limitation 

9 shall be allocated by the Secretary among 

10 qualified energy storage property projects 

11 selected by the Secretary, in consultation 

12 with the Secretary of Energy, for taxable 

13 years beginning after the date of the enact14 ment of the STORAGE 2010 Act, except 

15 that not more than $30,000,000 shall be 

16 allocated to any project for all such taxable 

17 years. 

18 ‘‘(iii) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In mak19 ing allocations under clause (ii), the Sec20 retary, in consultation with the Secretary 

21 of Energy, shall select only those projects 

22 which have a reasonable expectation of 

23 commercial viability, select projects rep24 resenting a variety of technologies, applicaVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:26 Jul 20, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617

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1 tions, and project sizes, and give priority 

2 to projects which— 

3 ‘‘(I) provide the greatest increase 

4 in reliability or the greatest economic 

5 benefit, 

6 ‘‘(II) enable the greatest im7 provement in integration of renewable 

8 resources into the grid, or 

9 ‘‘(III) enable the greatest in10 crease in efficiency in operation of the 

11 grid. 

12 ‘‘(iv) DEADLINES.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a project 

14 which receives an allocation under 

15 clause (ii) is not placed in service 

16 within 2 years after the date of such 

17 allocation, such allocation shall be in18 valid. 

19 ‘‘(II) SPECIAL RULE FOR HYDRO20 ELECTRIC PUMPED STORAGE.—Not21 withstanding subclause (I), in the case 

22 of a hydroelectric pumped storage 

23 project, if such project has not re24 ceived such permits or licenses as are 

25 determined necessary by the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:26 Jul 20, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3617.IS S3617

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1 retary, in consultation with the Sec2 retary of Energy, within 3 years after 

3 the date of such allocation, begun con4 struction within 5 years after the date 

5 of such allocation, and been placed in 

6 service within 8 years after the date 

7 of such allocation, such allocation 

8 shall be invalid. 

9 ‘‘(III) SPECIAL RULE FOR COM10 PRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE.— 

11 Notwithstanding subclause (I), in the 

12 case of a compressed air energy stor13 age project, if such project has not 

14 begun construction within 3 years 

15 after the date of the allocation and 

16 been placed in service within 5 years 

17 after the date of such allocation, such 

18 allocation shall be invalid. 

19 ‘‘(IV) EXCEPTIONS.—The Sec20 retary may extend the 2-year period 

21 in subclause (I) or the periods de22 scribed in subclauses (II) and (III) on 

23 a project-by-project basis if the Sec24 retary, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of Energy, determines that 


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1 there has been a good faith effort to 

2 begin construction or to place the 

3 project in service, whichever is appli4 cable, and that any delay is caused by 

5 factors not in the taxpayer’s control. 

6 ‘‘(E) REVIEW AND REDISTRIBUTION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) REVIEW.—Not later than 4 years 

8 after the date of the enactment of the 

9 STORAGE 2010 Act, the Secretary shall 

10 review the credits allocated under subpara11 graph (D) as of the date of such review. 

12 ‘‘(ii) REDISTRIBUTION.—Upon the re13 view described in clause (i), the Secretary 

14 may reallocate credits allocated under sub15 paragraph (D) if the Secretary determines 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(I) there is an insufficient quan18 tity of qualifying applications for cer19 tification pending at the time of the 

20 review, or 

21 ‘‘(II) any allocation made under 

22 subparagraph (D)(ii) has been re23 voked pursuant to subparagraph 

24 (D)(iv) because the project subject to 

25 such allocation has been delayed. 


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1 ‘‘(F) DISCLOSURE OF ALLOCATIONS.—The 

2 Secretary shall, upon making an allocation 

3 under subparagraph (D)(ii), publicly disclose 

4 the identity of the applicant, the location of the 

5 project, and the amount of the credit with re6 spect to such applicant. 

7 ‘‘(G) TERMINATION.—No credit shall be 

8 allocated under subparagraph (D) for any pe9 riod ending after December 31, 2020.’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to periods after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, under rules similar to the rules of 

13 section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 

14 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 

15 the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 

16 SEC. 3. ENERGY STORAGE PROPERTY CONNECTED TO THE 

17 GRID ELIGIBLE FOR NEW CLEAN RENEWABLE 

18 ENERGY BONDS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 54C(d) 

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED RENEWABLE ENERGY FACIL23 ITY.—The term ‘qualified renewable energy facility’ 

24 means a facility which is— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) a qualified facility (as determined 

2 under section 45(d) without regard to para3 graphs (8) and (10) thereof and to any placed 

4 in service date), or 

5 ‘‘(ii) a qualified energy storage property 

6 (as defined in section 48(c)(5)), and 

7 ‘‘(B) owned by a public power provider, a 

8 governmental body, or a cooperative electric 

9 company.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 this section shall apply to obligations issued after the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. ENERGY INVESTMENT CREDIT FOR ONSITE ENERGY 

14 STORAGE. 

15 (a) CREDIT ALLOWED.—Clause (i) of section 

16 48(a)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 

17 amended by this Act, is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause 

19 (III), 

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subclause 

21 (IV), and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub23 clause: 

24 ‘‘(V) qualified onsite energy stor25 age property,’’. 


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1 (b) QUALIFIED ONSITE ENERGY STORAGE PROP2 ERTY.—Subsection (c) of section 48 of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(6) QUALIFIED ONSITE ENERGY STORAGE

6 PROPERTY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

8 onsite energy storage property’ means property 

9 which— 

10 ‘‘(i) provides supplemental energy to 

11 reduce peak energy requirements primarily 

12 on the same site where the storage is lo13 cated, or 

14 ‘‘(ii) is designed and used primarily to 

15 receive and store intermittent renewable 

16 energy generated onsite and to deliver such 

17 energy primarily for onsite consumption. 

18 Such term may include thermal energy storage 

19 systems and property used to charge plug-in 

20 and hybrid electric vehicles if such property or 

21 vehicles are equipped with smart grid services 

22 which control time-of-day charging and dis23 charging of such vehicles. Such term shall not 

24 include any property for which any other credit 

25 is allowed under this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM CAPACITY.—The term 

2 ‘qualified onsite energy storage property’ shall 

3 not include any property unless such property 

4 in aggregate— 

5 ‘‘(i) has the ability to store the energy 

6 equivalent of at least 20 kilowatt hours of 

7 energy, 

8 ‘‘(ii) has the ability to have an output 

9 of the energy equivalent of 5 kilowatts of 

10 electricity for a period of 4 hours, and 

11 ‘‘(iii) has a roundtrip energy storage 

12 efficiency of not less than 80 percent. 

13 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—In the case of qualified 

14 onsite energy storage property placed in service 

15 during the taxable year, the credit otherwise de16 termined under subsection (a) for such year 

17 with respect to such property shall not exceed 

18 $1,000,000.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply to periods after the date of the 

21 enactment of this Act, under rules similar to the rules of 

22 section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 

23 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 

24 the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 


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1 SEC. 5. CREDIT FOR RESIDENTIAL ENERGY STORAGE 

2 EQUIPMENT. 

3 (a) CREDIT ALLOWED.—Subsection (a) of section 

4 25C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

6 (1), 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para8 graph (3), and 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol10 lowing new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(2) 30 percent of the amount paid or incurred 

12 by the taxpayer for qualified residential energy stor13 age equipment installed during such taxable year, 

14 and’’. 

15 (b) QUALIFIED RESIDENTIAL ENERGY STORAGE

16 EQUIPMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 25C of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

19 (A) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), 

20 and (g) as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respec21 tively, and 

22 (B) by inserting after subsection (d) the 

23 following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED RESIDENTIAL ENERGY STORAGE

25 EQUIPMENT.—For purposes of this section, the term 


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1 ‘qualified residential energy storage equipment’ means 

2 property— 

3 ‘‘(1) which is installed in or on a dwelling unit 

4 located in the United States and owned and used by 

5 the taxpayer as the taxpayer’s principal residence 

6 (within the meaning of section 121), or on property 

7 owned by the taxpayer on which such a dwelling unit 

8 is located, 

9 ‘‘(2) which— 

10 ‘‘(A) provides supplemental energy to re11 duce peak energy requirements primarily on the 

12 same site where the storage is located, or 

13 ‘‘(B) is designed and used primarily to re14 ceive and store intermittent renewable energy 

15 generated onsite and to deliver such energy pri16 marily for onsite consumption, 

17 ‘‘(3) which has a roundtrip energy storage effi18 ciency of not less than 80 percent, and 

19 ‘‘(4) which— 

20 ‘‘(A) has the ability to store the energy 

21 equivalent of at least 2 kilowatt hours of en22 ergy, and 

23 ‘‘(B) has the ability to have an output of 

24 the energy equivalent of 500 watts of electricity 

25 for a period of 4 hours. 


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1 Such term may include thermal energy storage systems 

2 and property used to charge plug-in and hybrid electric 

3 vehicles if such property or vehicles are equipped with 

4 smart grid services which control time-of-day charging and 

5 discharging of such vehicles. Such term shall not include 

6 any property for which any other credit is allowed under 

7 this chapter.’’. 

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

9 1016(a)(33) of such Code is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘section 25C(f)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 25C(g)’’. 

11 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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