BEST Act
Latest action · Oct 22, 2019 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 255.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 22, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
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.
Cosponsors 23
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 22, 2019 to Sep 23, 2020; 6 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-ME | Angus S. King Jr. | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| R-CO | Cory Gardner | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| R-AZ | Martha McSally | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Original | May 22, 2019 |
| R-ID | Mike Crapo | Jul 24, 2019 | |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Sep 23, 2019 | |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-RI | Jack Reed | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-WV | Joe Manchin III | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Sep 25, 2019 | |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Sep 25, 2019 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Referred May 22, 2019Markup Sep 25, 2019Reported Oct 22, 2019 |
| Energy Subcommittee | Hearings Jul 9, 2019 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2019Committee 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.
- Oct 22, 2019Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 255.
- Sep 25, 2019Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Jul 9, 2019Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 116-327.
- May 22, 2019Introduced in Senate
- May 22, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S3062-3063)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S3062 | Susan M. Collins R-ME | May 22, 2019 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Oct 22, 2019S. 1602, BEST ActAs ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on September 25, 2019
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 116-101 | SAVING ENERGY: LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND STORAGE202 pages | Energy and Commerce Committee | Feb 12, 2020 |
| S. Hrg. 116-327 | PENDING LEGISLATION72 pages | Energy and Natural Resources Committee | Jul 9, 2019 |
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46372 | Summary and Analysis of S. 2657, the American Energy Innovation Act Archived | Report | May 27, 2020 |
| R45980 | Electricity Storage: Applications, Issues, and Technologies Archived | Report | Oct 9, 2019 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2048 | Joint Long-Term Storage Act of 2019 | Related bill | Jul 9, 2019 |
| HR 2986 | BEST Act | Identical bill | Aug 7, 2020 |
| HR 7516 | Clean Energy Innovation and Deployment Act of 2020 | Related bill | Jul 10, 2020 |
Titles 5
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for grid-scale energy storage systems, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- BEST Act
- Better Energy Storage Technology Act
- Short Title(s) as Reported to Senate
- BEST Act
- Better Energy Storage Technology Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Energy.
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2019Reported to Senate
- May 22, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
