US regulators propose rules to facilitate storage integration

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday unveiled a proposal to better integrate electricity storage into the organised wholesale electric markets that were hailed by the industry.

The new rules are designed to remove barriers to the participation of electricity storage and distributed energy resource aggregations in the capacity, energy and ancillary service markets. They will require regional transmission organisations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) to revise their tariffs to ensure that these technologies can provide all of the services that they are technically capable of providing, the commission said.

US trade body the Energy Storage Association (ESA) said the proposal will open access to competitive markets and provide for accelerated deployment. "Today’s announcement is a major step forward in transforming America’s power sector, and FERC's action lays the foundation for competitive markets where energy storage and distributed energy resources are considered side-by-side with traditional grid assets," said ESA executive director Matt Roberts.

Energy storage is seen as vital in enabling greater renewables penetration.

There will be a 60-day comment period after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.

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