For electrical contractors working on energy storage projects of all sizes, a new report offers some good news.

According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report, published by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA), the U.S. deployed a total of 148.8 megawatts of energy storage in the first quarter of 2019, breaking the previous record (set in Q4 2018) by 6 percent, and growing a whopping 232 percent over the amount deployed one year ago.

Specifically, Q1 2019 was the second strongest quarter on record for the U.S. residential segment. It was the nonresidential storage market’s strongest first quarter ever with 271.1 megawatt-hours of storage being brought on-line, a 110 percent increase from one year earlier.

Behind-the-meter storage deployments, which include industrial, commercial and residential storage, accounted for 46 percent of all first-quarter deployments in terms of megawatts deployed, an increase of 36 percent over the previous quarter and 138 percent year-over-year.

Front-of-the-meter storage deployments (utility-scale projects) also grew significantly, accounting for 54 percent of all first-quarter deployments. The report also noted there is now five times as much front-of-the-meter storage in the United States than there was at the end of Q1 2018.

Wood Mackenzie and the ESA anticipate U.S. energy storage annual deployments will reach over 4.3 gigawatts by 2024, the result of increased utility procurements, changing tariffs and grid service opportunities. In fact, in 2019, deployed energy storage is expected to double compared to 2018, and even more increases (possibly as high as 300 percent) are expected in 2020 as several large front-of-the-meter energy storage projects come online.