On February 7, 2019, comments were submitted to FERC on the six RTO/ISO Order No. 841 (storage) compliance filings. FERC will need to address several issues regarding energy storage resources (ESRs), which are also distributed energy resources (DERs). This summary does not address issues that apply to all ESRs, such as limits on qualifying for capacity payments, transmission charges being properly excluded, PJM’s 10-hour rule, etc. Rather, it focuses on comments relating to ESRs that are also DERs or are quite likely to be DERs. For example, if an issue raised assumes that the ESR is co-located with retail load, that issue is likely to involve DER ESRs.
Overarching DER ESR Concerns
The comments relating to DER ESRs reflect many similar concerns – namely that the ISO/RTO is not including in its tariff sufficient information about matters relating to the state-federal jurisdictional overlap. Such alleged “omissions,” however, may reflect a lack of knowledge of the degree to which similar issues have been resolved in the non-ESR DERs context. Moreover, distribution owners (DO) (not the ISO/RTO) should be setting terms and conditions for DER ESRs’ usage of DO systems, in the first instance, subject to state commission or FERC oversight, if the DO is regulated.
Advanced Energy Economy, Tesla, and EDF Renewables all raise similar concerns that the ISOs and RTOs has not explained how DER and behind-the-meter (BTM) ESRs will access wholesale markets. This claim is somewhat odd in that DERs and BTM DERs have been accessing wholesale markets for decades in many states. Presumably, DER ESRs (whether BTM or in front-of the meter (IFOM)) will use the same processes and tools to interconnect and obtain service from their local utility to participate in the wholesale market as DERs use today. If such tools do not exist because of a lack of DERs, there are numerous states and DOs that can serve as models. There is nothing special or unusual about DERs participating in wholesale markets other than they (1) typically need to interconnect by asking their DO, rather than their ISO/RTO for interconnection service, (2) need to obtain wholesale distribution service (WDS) to sell some FERC-jurisdictional products to the market, and (3) DER ESRs will need WDS for charging purposes (when charging to resell). Only item (3) is unique to ESRs.
Comments such as those submitted by DTE Electric Company (DTE) indicate that some DOs evidently have not had to address market DER participation and are not yet prepared for such participation. For example, DTE is concerned with MISO providing dispatch instructions to DER ESRs due to a lack of visibility. DTE also is concerned with conflicting directions being issued by the DO and MISO. Yet, these are all issues any DER participating in MISO’s wholesale markets today would have to deal with, regardless of Order No. 841. Where a DO is providing a state-jurisdictional service, it can turn to its state commission (or if unregulated, to itself) to propose appropriate rules and protections; where a DO is providing a FERC-jurisdictional WDS, it has the right to set the terms and conditions for such service in the first instance. FERC-jurisdictional interconnection service for DER ESRs, largely will have to abide by the pro forma SGIA, as perhaps modified to reflect the ISO/RTO’s existence.
Advanced Energy Economy also raises in all dockets a concern about an ESRs’ opportunity costs where the ESR is co-located with retail load. Advanced Energy Economy argues that “opportunity costs are a key component of an ESR’s reference level” and that certain ESRs are used to ensure that a given [retail] customer’s demand does not exceed a certain threshold level. FERC, however, in developing market mitigation for ESRs should not consider an ESR’s role regarding managing the retail demand charge assessed a co-located retail customer. Wholesale and retail market considerations should be separated. FERC’s concern is wholesale markets, an ESR should not be permitted to set its wholesale opportunity cost based on retail rates.
Some of the more specific concerns of DERs and DOs are discussed below.
Continue Reading DER Issues Raised by Storage Compliance Filing Comments