FERC Sets Demand Response Opt-Out for Further Consideration

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said that it will take a further look at whether participation by demand response resources in distributed energy resource (DER) aggregations in regional wholesale markets should be subject to the opt-out, opt-in requirements established in Order Nos. 719 and 719-A.

Specifically, FERC set aside the Commission’s decision in Order No. 2222-A that the opt-out requirement would not extend to aggregations that include a mix of demand response and other forms of DERs.

Instead, the Commission will further evaluate whether to permit demand response to participate as part of a DER aggregate in the context of the Commission’s broader Notice of Inquiry (NOI) proceeding considering whether to revise its regulations to remove the demand response opt-out established in Order Nos. 719 (2008) and 719-A (2009).

FERC also provided further clarification regarding appropriate restrictions to avoid double counting of services and the compensation of demand response resources that participate in DER aggregations.

See more details in FERC's order here, Docket RM18-9-003