HOW-TO GUIDE Legislative Language for Equitable Energy Storage

The Union of Concerned Scientists outlines how state legislation can leverage energy storage to advance equity, focusing on replacing fossil fuel peaker plants, increasing community resiliency, and expanding access to distributed energy resources for low-income and overburdened communities.

• Energy storage can improve public health in low-income communities by replacing fossil fuel 'peaker plants', which are major sources of localized pollution and are often sited near these populations.
• Storage technology enhances community resiliency during natural disasters—such as floods, wildfires, and extreme weather—by providing localized backup power through microgrids or resiliency hubs in both urban and rural settings.
• To ensure equitable access to clean energy, the guide recommends that state procurement targets for energy storage include carve-outs or set-asides specifically for projects that benefit underserved communities through improved resiliency or reduced air pollution.
• Effective equitable legislation requires specific components: preamble language that prioritizes burdened communities, precise definitions of 'underserved' populations, transparent stakeholder engagement processes, and innovative financing like green banks or resiliency funds.
• Legislators are encouraged to address the full life cycle of battery storage, including the creation of recycling mandates and incentives to mitigate global environmental-justice concerns related to the extraction of materials for lithium-ion batteries.
• The guide highlights specific state laws as models for equity, including Massachusetts SB 9 for its assessment of cumulative impacts, New Jersey SB 2484 for establishing an Office of Clean Energy Equity, and New York AB 08429 for its focus on disadvantaged communities and just transitions.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2021). HOW-TO GUIDE Legislative Language for Equitable Energy Storage. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/Legislative_Language_for_Equitable_Energy_Storage.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. HOW-TO GUIDE Legislative Language for Equitable Energy Storage. 2021. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/Legislative_Language_for_Equitable_Energy_Storage.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=HOW-TO GUIDE Legislative Language for Equitable Energy Storage |date=September 2021 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/Legislative_Language_for_Equitable_Energy_Storage.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2021howto, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{HOW-TO GUIDE Legislative Language for Equitable Energy Storage}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/Legislative_Language_for_Equitable_Energy_Storage.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }