News

Utility Dive reported that the FERC commission unanimously directed grid operators to develop rules for storage to participate in the wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary services markets.  Order 841 directs operators of wholesale markets — Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs) — to come up with market rules for energy storage to participate in the wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary services markets that recognize the physical and operational characteristics of the resource. They have months to file tariffs that comply with the order and another year to implement those tariff provisions.FERC specifies that those rules must:

SmartGrid Today reported Advanced Energy Economy's announcement that executives of nine market-leading firms joined its board of directors to support the national business group's efforts to accelerate the growth of secure, clean, affordable energy in the US. The nation's advanced energy market totals over $200 billion in revenue, about equal to pharmaceutical manufacturing and approaching wholesale consumer electronics – and supports over 3 million US workers, AEE said.The AEE Institute, the educational and research affiliate of AEE, added two new board members, too:

Bloomberg Markets news reported that U.S. regulators have leveled the playing field for batteries and other forms of energy storage, voting unanimously to eliminate market barriers for those technologies.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday finalized a rule that will let energy storage compete against power plants and other resources in wholesale power markets. Under the rule, technologies such as batteries and flywheel systems can be used by grid operators to dispatch power, set energy prices and offer capacity, energy and ancillary services.“Our job is not to pick winners and losers,” Chairman Kevin McIntyre said before the vote, adding that the final rule will ensure all resources are allowed to compete fairly. Integrating storage into markets will enhance grid resilience, he said...Malcolm Woolf, vice president of Advanced Energy Economy, which promotes clean energy, urged the commission to move forward on the matter, saying distributed energy resources “deserve the same opportunity to compete on the basis of price and performance.”See the full Bloomberg Markets story here.Energy trade press also covered the news and AEE's perspective with stories at Energy Central here, Renewable Energy World here; and AltEnergy Magazine here.

Tim Puko reports that "[e]nergy efficiency and renewable power research money would be slashed under President Donald Trump’s proposed $31 billion budget for the Department of Energy, while research spending on fossil-fuel power rises." The story notes, "[t]he department's spending plan unveiled Monday is nearly unchanged from current spending, up less than 2%. Most of the increase would come from a $1.8 billion boost for managing the country’s nuclear-weapons stockpile, completing programs for safeguarding and extending the life of nuclear warheads. Cybersecurity defenses were also a priority ... a steep cut for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, down by... $1.3 billion of its nearly $2 billion in funding," and that funding for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) an incubator for next-generation technology would be eliminated while $81 million would be added for fossil energy research, bringing that program up to $502 million... “It’s disappointing that this administration is turning its back on the technologies critical for prosperity in the 21st century,” said Malcolm Woolf, who oversees policy at Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group representing business consumers. “We’re not investing in the technologies of the future.” See the Wall Street Journal story here (scroll, no sub. req.)  

For Indiana businesses and residents, a few cutbacks during peak energy times could save the state between $448 million and $2.3 billion over 10 years, a new report from Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) said.AEE, a national association of business leaders dedicated to making the global energy system more secure, clean and affordable, released the report, “Potential for Peak Demand Reduction in Indiana,” earlier this month. Prepared for Indiana AEE by Demand Side Analytics, the report highlighted strategies to help the state avoid electricity infrastructure investments, including new power plants, transmission lines, and distribution infrastructure across the state.The report focused on three main strategies impacting both commercial and residential customers: curtailing commercial and industrial electricity demand, installing more smart thermostats across Indiana’s residential sector, and deploying energy storage technologies...“Indiana is a very energy intensive state,” said Vince Griffin, executive director of Indiana Advanced Energy Economy, a state affiliate of national business association AEE. “We have steel mills, smeltering, auto manufacturers. Indiana has something like 43 foundries, which is very energy intensive. … And what we’ve found is that, on the commercial side, if we can reduce the load during peak times, we, and the businesses, can see big returns on energy usage,” Griffin told Daily Energy Insider...See complete Daily Energy Insider story here.

Rate design for a DER future: Designing rates to better integrate and value distributed energy resourcesIn this third installment from AEE on how the power sector can successfully transition to a 21st Century Electricity System, AEE's Coley Girouard digs in on rate design challenges for a DER future, noting time-varying rates may be the best bet to accurately price DERs.The U.S. electricity system is changing, driven by technological innovation, increased use of distributed energy resources (DER), and evolving customer needs and preferences. If DER assets are properly integrated into the system, they have the potential to make the grid more efficient, flexible, resilient, reliable, and clean, while simultaneously giving customers greater choices and control over energy use and costs. For this to happen, new rate designs will be needed – and some approaches to new rate design fulfill the promise of a DER future better than others.  In the fast-changing electric power system going forward, rate designs will need to achieve multiple objectives. They will need to allocate costs equitably. They will need to compensate DER customers for the benefits DER provides and properly charge them for use of the grid.And they will need to allow utilities to fairly recover the revenue required to maintain a system that provides safe, reliable, universal electricity service. But with customers more actively engaged with the electric power system, rate designs need to do even more. They need to send appropriate price signals so that customers are motivated to act in ways that benefit themselves and the grid as a whole....See the full Utility Dive piece here. 

GreentechMedia reported on the congressional budget deal: "After a brief government shutdown, lawmakers passed a two-year budget deal that includes several key energy provisions... "The bill includes credits for fuel cells, energy efficiency, microturbines, combined heat and power, carbon capture, and nuclear power. The latter would extend nuclear benefits past 2020, allowing the country’s last large-scale nuclear project under construction, an expansion at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia, to benefit. "Clean energy advocates cheered the inclusion of the credits, even as lawmakers stared down the impending deadline... “'This legislation provides the market certainty that will support investment in technologies like fuel cells, combined heat and power, energy efficiency, geothermal and advanced nuclear,' said Malcolm Woolf, Advanced Energy Economy’s senior vice president for policy."   See the full GreentechMedia story here.  

Read the entire Hill Op-Ed here. 

Read the full Consumer Reports article here.  

This story recapped industry reaction to tariffs imposed by the Administration on solar panel and component imports. The reporter included the perspective of the Advanced Energy Buyers Group: