The American Clean Power Association recently announced it would be merging with the U.S. Energy Storage Association. What was the thinking behind this decision so soon after the recent merging of other renewables under one roof as ACP?
ACP was created with the mission to unite the voice of all clean-energy technologies — wind, solar, and energy storage.The merger with ESA is a natural progression in fulfilling ACP’s mission to present a unified voice across various technologies.
After months of thoughtful discussion and collaboration, the Boards of ACP and ESA both agreed to the terms for a plan of merger for our organizations to combine our resources and reach starting in 2022.
The value both boards see our organizations providing to one another is two-fold; adding storage expertise to ACP’s work and bringing numerous new resources to bear for storage advocacy for ESA members.
How will the merger enhance the American Clean Power Association’s efforts to advocate for the economic and environmental advantages of the clean-power economy?
As ACP continues to position itself for multi-technology advocacy, acquiring ESA’s existing team and membership is an attractive alternative to building a new storage team and competing for limited membership resources.
The deep expertise and structure of ESA coupled with the reach and resources of ACP will ensure stronger advocacy on behalf of the energy-storage industry and the broader clean-power sector.
What steps are you taking to promote the positive nature of the merger?
ESA has been holding several informational sessions with its members, and ACP has actively participated in those sessions to answer questions and expand upon the services and structure of ACP.
Both the ESA and ACP boards unanimously endorsed a merger, and we have collectively spent the last several weeks providing information and further details with ESA’s members.
What does the merger mean for the industry and its goal to achieve 100 GW of new energy storage by 2030?
We see a lot of growth over the next decade. In a world increasingly focused on addressing the climate crisis, the prospects of the renewables and storage industries will be increasingly intertwined.
As a part of ACP, storage industry interests will have the backing of greater resources and a seat at the table for higher-profile policy engagements that no single technology could attain on its own.
A unified voice among our industries sends a stronger message to policymakers and the public about the critical role storage will play for years to come.
ACP will advocate strongly for the energy storage industry’s No. 1 priority — a standalone investment tax credit (ITC) for energy storage.
ACP also has the resources to have an increased focus on the other priorities necessary to reach 100 GW of storage by 2030 including international trade and market design topics.
What about this new partnership will aid in giving a more unified voice to the renewables sector?
The clean energy sector has historically been very segmented — with a proliferation of groups competing for limited resources.
The merger of ACP and ESA creates a more unified voice on behalf of energy-storage interests and unites the industry resources to push for meaningful gains both across the clean energy sector and for energy storage specifically.
Once the merger goes into effect January 1, 2022, what will that mean for trade shows and other events?
Both ACP and ESA will continue to have their annual events and tradeshows as planned in 2021, and we look forward to supporting each other’s events as named supporters.
With the final approval by ESA’s membership, we will work collaboratively to determine the best suite of events for 2022 and beyond — including any energy-storage specific events that are beneficial to the sector.
We are looking forward to reconnecting, reenergizing, and returning to our trade shows and other events in the future.
More info cleanpower.org
