FERC Approves ISO-NE Market Design Changes for Battery Storage Resources

On Monday, February 25, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved tariff changes to the ISO-New England, Inc.’s (ISO-NE) Transmission, Markets, and Services Tariff (Tariff) designed to better enable battery storage resources’ full participation in ISO-NE’s markets effective April 1, 2019.

ISO-NE’s tariff revisions account for the physical and operational differences between a battery storage resource (Continuous Storage Facility) and pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities, and will allow owners or developers of battery storage facilities to:

• Avoid the commitment process, where the resource is capable of transitioning between energy consumption and generation in ten minutes or less
• Better manage the risk of clearing more MWhs in the day-ahead market than its energy storage capacity would allow it to deliver
• Provide regulation while consuming or supplying energy and providing reserves
• Request a self-dispatch 30 minutes prior to providing service

FERC’s order also ensures that Continuous Storage Facilities will be subject to telemetry and settlement calculation requirements as set forth in the Tariff, and implements steps for calculating real-time reserves for a battery storage facility reflecting the fact that such resources may consist of multiple inverters, thus better enabling ISO-NE to determine the synchronized capability of the resources to provide spinning reserves.

For questions regarding FERC’s order, the Order No. 841 compliance process, and all other energy-related questions, please contact Andrew O. Kaplan at akaplan@pierceatwood.com or 617.488.8104, or Lisa A. Gilbreath at lgilbreath@pierceatwood.com or 207.791.1397.