S. 1602 116th Congress Senate

BEST Act

Official title: A bill to amend the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for grid-scale ene… Show full official titleShow less

Introduced: September 23, 2020 Introduced by: Susan M. Collins Republican · Maine See on congress.gov

Energy Congressional oversightElectric power generation and transmissionEnergy efficiency and conservationEnergy research

More subjectsShow fewer subjects

Energy storage, supplies, demandPublic-private cooperationResearch administration and fundingResearch and developmentTechnology transfer and commercialization

Everywhere this bill has been 6 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Oct 22, 2019

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 255.

Oct 22, 2019

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. With written report No. 116-135.

Sep 25, 2019

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

Jul 9, 2019

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 116-327.

May 22, 2019

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S3062-3063)

May 22, 2019

Introduced in Senate

Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

Latest action October 22, 2019

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 255.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Better Energy Storage Technology Act or the BEST Act

This bill addresses research, development, and demonstration programs relating to energy storage systems.

Among other requirements, the Department of Energy must

establish a research, development, and deployment program for energy storage systems, including distributed and transportation energy storage technologies and applications;
enter into agreements to carry out at least five demonstration projects and develop a 10-year strategic plan for energy storage systems;
establish a competitive grant program to assist certain states and tribal governments, institutions of higher education, utilities, and private energy storage companies carry out demonstration projects for pilot energy storage systems;
provide technical and planning assistance to help certain electric cooperatives, political subdivisions of states, nonprofit entities, and utilities procure energy storage systems; and
award competitive prizes for advancing the recycling of critical energy storage materials such as lithium and cobalt.