The last panel in FERC’s Review of Generator Interconnection Agreements and Procedures Technical Conference, held on Friday, May 13, discussed the role of electricity storage in wholesale markets (Docket Nos. RM16-12-000 and RM15-21-000). Panelists pointed out multiple types of values provided by storage, including acting as a transmission asset, though some speakers pointed to the difficulties of holding multiple obligations. Noting that charging storage is treated as load, at least one panelist called for creating a separate storage asset class. While another panelist noted that pumped storage has been used for energy arbitrage for decades, Commissioner LaFleur recognized that storage is a growing field and concluded the session by asking a philosophical question: if you were to build the entire electricity system from scratch, how would you design it?
At the state level, the CPUC issued its Decision Adopting Net Energy Metering Bill Credit Estimation Methodology for Generating Facilities Paired with Small Storage Devices on April 28. It caps NEM credits for solar PV systems paired with small storage devices on a monthly basis based on modeled monthly production.
