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Guiding the Selection & Application of Wayside Energy Storage Technologies for Rail Transit and Electric Utilities Transit Cooperative Research Program Transportation Research Board Page 50 of 61 Appendix A - Energy Storage Research Consortium Interest in trackside energy storage for rail applications began as agencies were looking for ways to reduce energy use as fuel prices and electric rates were showing signs of rapid increase. Concurrent with industry awareness of energy storage but unaware of the potential benefit it was clear that information within the industry was fractured and there was a need to better understand energy storage. APTA developed a white paper on the connection between energy storage and transit, highlighting the general categories of technologies and the potential for addressing numerous problems some agencies were seeing. An energy research consortium was established jointly by the Electric Power Research Institute and the American Public Transportation Association. It was proposed and agreed that the APTA/EPRI consortium might act as an âumbrellaâ organization to pull this fragmented knowledge together and advance the state of the art with new knowledge as well. This consortium was created consisting of a diverse member base including Sandia National Laboratory that was already researching energy storage; transit agencies including the Washington Area Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, Long Island Railroad and Bay Area Rapid Transit; state research organizations including California Energy Commission, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the New York Power Authority; and consultants from Systra-USA, Inc. The consortium provided context and support for energy storage research and helped form the basis for this TRB project.
