FERC To Convene a Technical Conference on Electric Storage Resource Compensation

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will convene a technical conference on November 9, 2016 concerning electric storage resource compensation and other issues

FERC noted that electric storage resources are able to provide services to multiple entities (i.e., Regional Transmission Organizations/Independent System Operators (RTO/ISO), the distribution utilities, or other markets). In addition, storage resources may fit into one or more of the traditional asset functions of generation, transmission, and distribution.

"The Commission wants to explore the circumstances under which it may be appropriate for electric storage resources to provide multiple services, whether the RTO/ISO tariffs need to include provisions to accommodate these business models, and how the Commission may ensure just and reasonable compensation for these resources in the RTO/ISO markets. The subject of the conference will be the utilization of electric storage resources as transmission assets compensated through transmission rates, for grid support services that are compensated in other ways, and for multiple services. The discussion will include issues related to (1) potential models for cost recovery for electric storage resources utilized as transmission assets, while also selling energy, capacity or ancillary services at wholesale; (2) potential models to enable an electric storage resource to provide a compensated grid support service (like a generator providing ancillary services under a reliability must-run contract) rather than being compensated for providing transmission service; and (3) practical considerations for electric storage resources providing multiple services at once (i.e., providing both wholesale service(s) and retail and/or end-use service(s))," FERC said

For purposes of the conference, Commission Staff defines an electric storage resource as a facility that can receive electric energy from the grid and store it for later injection of electricity back to the grid. This includes all types of electric storage technologies, regardless of their size and storage medium, or whether they are interconnected to the transmission system, distribution system, or behind a customer meter.

Docket No. AD16-25