Recent programmatic developments in Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) have prompted renewed and widespread interest in this field. In mid 1987 the Defense Nuclear Agency, acting for the Strategic Defense Initiative Office issued a request for proposals for the design and construction of SMES Engineering Test Model (ETM). Two teams, one led by Bechtel and the other by Ebasco, are now engaged in the first phase of the development of a 10 to 20 MWhr ETM. This report presents the rationale for energy storage on utility systems, describes the general technology of SMES and explains the chronological development of the technology. The present ETM program is outlined; details of the two projects for ETM development are described in other papers in these proceedings. The impact of high Tc materials on SMES is discussed. {\textcopyright} 1989 IEEE