CAISO finalizes proposed storage, DR rules

The range of resources on the California grid is growing, and finding a way to integrate them into the market will “help lower carbon emissions and add operational flexibility,” according to the ISO’s final daft proposal.

The proposal is one of three the grid operator is drafting in efforts to integrate distributed energy resources more seamlessly in the market and grid.

The challenge, however, lies in distinguishing between wholesale charging energy to be resold and so-called “station power,” which is energy consumed by a generator. The distinction between the two definitions is important because the grid operator wants to prevent storage resources from being charged twice at the wholesale and retail level.

“Without careful consideration between the CPUC and the CAISO, incompatible retail and wholesale station power rules could result in the same energy incurring both wholesale and retail charges, resuscitating the years of litigation that preceded the current station power framework,” the ISO warned.

There is broad support for the proposal, according to the ISO. Stakeholders say the use of additional baselines for residential and non-residential customers “would improve the accuracy and reduce bias in the performance calculation in comparison to the 10 in 10 customer load baseline methodology.”

The proposal includes a less restrictive methodology for assessing the demand response potential of aggregated retail customers, essentially a four day look-back for residential accounts, rather than 45 days used for larger consumers, followed by comparing 10 days where no demand response was called.
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