Expanding Access to Energy Storage for Disadvantaged Communities - Energy Storage for Social Equity (ES4SE)

Disadvantaged communities fall behind in energy transition and often do not have the means or resources to leverage the use of energy storage devices to improve their quality of life and reduce their energy burden. The Energy Storage for Social Equity (ES4SE) program was established by the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity (DOE-OE) to help underserved communities in utilizing energy storage to increase resilience, maximizing energy flexibility and promoting an equitable clean energy transition. The program consists of a technical assistance phase led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and a project development and deployment phase led by Sandia National Laboratories. Fourteen communities were selected to participate in the first phase. Of those fourteen, an initial selection of four communities have been selected for the cost share project deployment funding from Sandia. This paper will discuss the ES4SE program and the energy storage projects and their applications for these four communities.