January 28, 2021: Kelly Speakes-Backman, for three and a half years the CEO of the US Energy Storage Association, on January 21 said she had been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy with the Department of Energy.

She has been replaced by ESA vice president of policy Jason Burwen as interim CEO.

Speakes-Backman had “led ESA through a pivotal shift in the industry with record-breaking growth in 2020, despite the challenges from Covid-19,” said ESA board chairman John Hewa, who is also president and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative.

“As the Biden-Harris administration takes office, and as the storage industry enters a new phase of accelerated market growth, energy storage is poised to become central to America’s clean energy economy to enable a more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable grid for all.”

New US president Joe Biden excited stakeholders in the energy industry in his ‘Build Back Better’ speech on January 14, in which he said global leadership was up for grabs in markets like battery technology.