Participation of major buyers of energy storage underscores value of industry's leading conference

BERKELEY, Calif., May 20, 2015 -- Energy Storage North America (ESNA), the most influential gathering of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, will feature executives from each of California's three investor-owned utilities (IOUs) as speakers at this year's conference and exposition, which takes place from October 13-15 in San Diego, California.

One of this year's keynote speakers will be Pedro Pizarro, President of Southern California Edison (SCE), which recently contracted with suppliers for 261 MW of energy storage and is awaiting California Public Utilities Commission approval. SCE is also evaluating proposals for an additional 16.3 MW of storage.

Energy storage decision-makers from all three state IOUs will discuss their respective buying criteria, processes and outlook in a panel session entitled "Meet the Buyers: California IOU Procurement Perspectives." The speakers are:

* Jesse Bryson, Principal Manager, Contract Origination Energy Contracts, SCE
* Dan Baerman, Director, Origination & Portfolio Design, San Diego Gas & Electric
* Charles Post, Principal, Energy Storage, Pacific Gas & Electric

These same three utility officials will also present a more in-depth workshop at ESNA 2015 entitled "Utility Procurement: Planning and Execution." The workshop will review the storage procurement process, including lessons learned and best practices from their 2014 and 2015 procurements, and help utility representatives and regulators to conceptualize and plan their own storage RFOs. The workshop is free of charge to the first 100 registered full conference attendees who sign up.

"The true value of an industry conference can be measured by the number and quality of potential customers and deal-makers who attend," said Janice Lin, Managing Partner of Strategen Consulting and Conference Chair of ESNA 2015. "These investor-owned utilities are among the most significant buyers of energy storage in the world - and their evaluation processes and decision-making regarding storage are a model for other utilities to emulate. We're pleased that ESNA 2015 will be a platform for California's biggest storage customers to share implementation plans and perspectives with the utilities, developers, suppliers and other industry professionals who will be there."

ESNA is North America's premier energy storage conference and exposition, recognized for its focus on projects, customers, and deal making. Last year, ESNA more than doubled in size from its inaugural event in 2013, with over 1,500 attendees from 26 countries coming together to learn, strategize, and shape the market for storage in North America. Registration and exhibit space reservations for ESNA 2015 are now open. For more information, visit www.esnaexpo.com.

About Energy Storage North America
Energy Storage North America is part of the Energy Storage World conference series, which also includes Energy Storage Europe, Energy Storage China, Energy Storage India, and Energy Storage Summit Japan. ESNA 2015 is produced by Messe Düsseldorf in association with Strategen Consulting and the California Energy Storage Alliance.