FERC Decision Puts Energy Storage on the National Stage

On Thursday, February 15th, FERC Commissioners unanimously passed a rule proposed in late 2016 on enabling the participation of Energy Storage resources in RTO and ISO markets nationally.  The commissioners each touted the growth in the industry that awaits, and the associated benefits that it will bring to the grid: Commissioner LaFleur mentioned the variability in its application, Comissioner Glick noted performance that is superior to conventional forms of generation, Commissioner Chatterjee praised the healthy competition that this rule would foster, and Commissioner Powelson spoke of the importance of dispatchable resources in grid resilience.

This decision will require each RTO / ISO to revise their tariffs to facilitate energy storage participation in the ancillary services market and wholesale energy and capacity markets, taking into account the unique physical and operational characteristics of these technologies. This will allow storage to be valued on technical merits rather than being morphed into tariff language written for a traditional, centralized electricity system.

Each RTO and ISO will have 9 months to come back with a plan for accomplishing these tasks, and another 12 months to implement those changes in their tariffs. As KCE begins to branch out from the Northeastern US and into new markets, this ruling comes as confirmation of our early development strategy, giving landowners, ratepayers, and system operators the confidence in the benefits that storage will bring.

We look forward to working with the RTOs and ISOs to develop policies going forward.

Read the staff presentation here.