2015 Energy Storage Summit Videos and Presentations
The 2nd Energy Storage Summit Will Be Held in Fall, 2016.
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What People Are Saying About The Energy Storage Summit:
- “Leaving the summit I had my interest peaked and had new resources to look for information”
- “Let’s form a partnership among the key stakeholders, and roll our sleeves and get to work. How about making MN the leader in Midwest storage?”
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- “Good review of what is real and what is 5-10 years away in regards to energy storage”
- “Speakers represented a good range of stakeholders
- Overall, great content”
- “[I liked] the way questions were handled and holding the presentations to their allotted time”
- “It was fun at the end to do the live polling and then to network at the reception afterwards”
- “[I liked] the real time gathering of our opinion using the [Poll Everywhere] technology, as a result we were engaged much better”
- “Hopefully there will be a follow up session”
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The Energy Transition Lab held a summit on July 15 at which national and local experts examined the policy, technology, regulatory, and market drivers that affect energy storage in Minnesota. Click here to view a list of presenters for the energy storage summit.
Summit participants from a variety of sectors convened to network and participate in a high level discussion about the future of energy storage in the state. Of the more than 200 participants, roughly half were from the private sector, with the rest representing government, academia, and nonprofit organizations. Videos and presentations for the event can be seen below.
Energy Storage Summit Presentations July 15th 2015
Click here to review the full Energy Storage Summit Program
Welcome and Introductory Comments
Energy Transition Lab Faculty Director Hari Osofsky and Executive Director Ellen Anderson welcomed participants to the Summit. Watch The Video
Energy Transition and Energy Storage
By James Tong, Vice President of Strategy and Government Affairs, of Clean Power Finance
James Tong’s presentation features a high-level overview of how our energy system is changing and the future of the electricity grid, and provides a brief overview of energy storage and how it fits into a modernized grid. Watch The Video
Presentation PDF: Energy Storage and the Networked Grid by James Tong
The Latest Energy Storage Research
This panel discussion moderated by Kristen Nelson of the University of Minnesota features University of Minnesota scientists highlighting some of the latest research related to batteries, compressed air, flywheels, pumped hydro storage and solar thermal storage and opportunities for energy storage in Minnesota. Watch the Video
Presentation PDFs:
- Powering Progress: Smarter, Sustainable, More Secure & Resilient Energy Infrastructure by Massoud Amin
- Electric Storage Education and Research by Ned Mohan
- Open-Accumulator Isothermal Compressed Air Energy Storage for Off-Shore Wind Energy by Perry Y. Li
- Short-term energy storage for a mid-size wind turbine with hydrostatic transmission by Kim Stelson
- Pumped Hydro and Compressed Air Energy Storage by Don Fosnacht
- Flywheel energy storage for a Smart Distribution Grid by Eric Severson.

Photo credit: Stefano Paltera/US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Integrated Energy Systems and Storage
This a panel discussion moderated by Nina Axelson, Vice President of Public Relations of Evergreen Energy, focuses on the different ways that energy storage fits into a truly integrated energy system. Experts focus upon a variety of storage applications such as electric hot water heaters, solar and storage, and pumped hydro storage; how they can be integrated into a modern energy system; and benefits to the system in terms of resiliency, reliability, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Watch the Video
Presentation PDFs:
- Xcel Energy’s Solar + Storage Pilots by Al Choi of Xcel Energy
- Electric Thermal Storage Water Heating by Jeff Haase of Great River Energy
- Minnesota Power is Moving Energy Forward by Julie Pierce of Minnesota Power
- Solar+Storage for Resilient Power by Seth Mullendore of Clean Energy Group
Energy Storage Summit’s keynote address by Janice Lin.
Janice Lin is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA) and the Global Energy Storage Alliance, and Founder and Managing Partner of Strategen Consulting LLC. Her presentation features a discussion of national and global trends related to energy storage and focuses upon the policy, regulatory and market drivers of energy storage opportunities and barriers in California. Watch the Video
Presentation PDF: Energy Storage: Power System Game Changer by Janice Lin
This panel discussion moderated by Alexandra Klass of the University of Minnesota Law School focuses upon state, regional and national legal, regulatory, and market rules related to energy storage. The panel features representatives from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), experts on Mid-continent Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), and other energy law and policy experts.Watch the Video
Presentation PDFs:
- Energy Storage: Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Perspective by Rao Konidena of MISO
- Valuing Energy Storage by Seth Mullendore of Clean Energy Group
- Presentations by Public Utilities Commissioner John Tuma and Steve Dahlke of the Great Planes Institute also featured in the video
During this panel moderated by Paul Douglas of Aeris Weather Minnesota-based companies and other experts speak about the value proposition that energy storage technology provides for their business and their customers. Watch the Video
Presentation PDFs:
- Mortenson Construction by Dan Cross of Mortenson Construction
- Community-Based Solar/Wind/Storage Hybrids by Dan Juhl of Juhl Energy
- Demand Charge Management with Solar + Storage for the Commercial Customer by Stacy Miller of the MN Department of Commerce
- Battery Storage and the Distribution Cooperative by Steve Nisbet of Wright-Hennepin Electric
- Beth Soholt of Wind on the Wires also featured in the video
Facilitated Participant Engagement and Concluding Remarks
Energy Transition Lab Executive Director Ellen Anderson and Ralph Jacobson, Founder and CEO of Innovative Power Systems, facilitated concluding remarks and discussion of next steps for advancing Energy Storage in Minnesota. Watch the Video
The reception was sponsored by Juhl Energy, Ever-Green Energy, Xcel Energy, Innovative Power Systems Inc, Great River Energy, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and PAR Energy Solutions LLC-Policy Analysis and Regulatory Advice.
For more background on energy storage, review the Energy Storage 101 document prepared by the Energy Transition Lab