The election of Joe Biden as President of the US shows that Americans want to accelerate the transition to clean energy, Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the US national Energy Storage Association, has said.

Speakes-Backman, who has previously characterised energy storage as something which enjoys rare bipartisan support in the upper levels of the US government and among lawmakers, gave a brief statement as it became clear just before the weekend that Biden had beaten incumbent Donald Trump in the race for 270 Electoral College votes to seal victory in the presidential race.

“By electing Joe Biden as President of the United States of America, Americans have sent the signal to accelerate the path forward toward a clean energy economy,” the ESA CEO said.

“We expect to see strong support from the new Administration focused on decarbonisation of the electric and transportation sectors, which will further drive the deployment of energy storage.”

Kelly Speakes-Backman said that the ESA looked forward to working with both the Biden Administration and members of Congress to advance the association’s goal of deploying 100GW of energy storage by 2030 in the US to support the creation of a “more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable electricity grid”.

One of the first clean energy-related items on Biden’s agenda when he is sworn into office in January 2021 is likely to be committing the US to rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, which Trump had begun the process of exiting the country from.

The president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Gregory Wetstone, congratulated Biden on his victory and commended the President-Elect for his election pledge to rejoin the Paris Accord. Wetstone also pointed out the prominent role renewable energy industries could play in revitalizing the US economy.

The nation’s renewable energy sector looks forward to working with the new Administration and Congress to realize the clean energy future that Americans want, and scientists say we need,” ACORE’s Gregory Wetstone said.

“The time has come for the U.S. to move beyond climate denial and resume a global leadership role in the fight against climate change.”