Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Post

ICYMI: On Monday, May 13th, FERC is holding a special, ad hoc meeting to address a much-anticipated rulemaking on transmission planning & cost allocation. This rule stands to fundamentally transform how regional, long-distance transmission lines are planned & paid for. Plus, the Commission will be addressing an additional rulemaking on federal backstop siting authority for national interest transmission lines. Save the date!

Germany have approved a legislative proposal referred to as “Solar Package I” with the aim to annually triple the expansion of PV across the country to reach it’s target of 22 GW by 2026. #EnergyTransition #SolarEnergy

The application of a singular/straight reliability index may pose inequities when assessing generation companies (gencos) with plants spanning different age categories (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years) compared to brand new/newer facilities. Additionally, the maintenance frequency varies between peak plants vs. base load plants vs VRE plants and other operational types. To address this, I suggest the regulator considers implementing a graduated/nuanced set of indices that considers factors such as plant age, technology, and operational characteristics for a more comprehensive reliability assessment.

Global Release: https://lnkd.in/gfVEUX8T According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) more than two thousand gigawatts of generation and storage were waiting in interconnection queues throughout the country – an amount equivalent to the electricity generation capacity of all currently operating power plants in the country. Wait times for grid connections average five years. “As a leading battery energy storage system developer and power generator, Elevate needs more timely and efficient interconnection processes…the final ruling is meaningful to the cost, efficiency, delivery, and reliability of power delivered to the communities that Elevate serves,” stated Eric Cherniss, Elevate Renewables founder and Head of Development. Tonja Wicks, Elevate Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, echoed Cherniss’ comments and added, “This is a landmark order with reforms that provide clarity and accountability in the interconnection process, however, there are additional reforms proposed in the record that could also be adopted to facilitate our mission of prioritizing clean energy investments in environmental justice communities by expeditiously replacing retiring thermal generating plants with carbon-free battery energy storage resources.” Elevate, while not filing an individual request, supports AEP’s August 26th request for the Commission to revisit its determination that requests for adopting a generation replacement process in the Generator Interconnection Reform Final Rule are outside the scope of this generic rulemaking proceeding.

Delays between an application for grid connection and a plant going online are not just a function of slow interconnection processes. As LBNL has documented, equally important factors for delays are permitting and community opposition: https://lnkd.in/eS_Gi9fV This means there are probably 100 GW of projects with completed grid interconnection agreements that are delayed for other reasons. In PJM alone that number exceeded 40 GW a year ago: https://lnkd.in/eH4Uw4gw To mitigate the delays in generation development thus requires a multi-faceted approach that includes (1) improve generator interconnection processes (as grid operators are trying to do); (2) streamline permitting processes (as states such as CA, NY, and MA are working on); and (3) improve community engagement. Recommendations on the first item are posted here: https://lnkd.in/evYKdbpy

⚡ Energy regulators acknowledge the benefits of energy communities and identify the main challenges they face in the 2023 Market Monitoring Report published by the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER). Moreover, in line with the EU provisions for energy communities, they urge Member States to adopt clear and workable definitions and create enabling frameworks that provide clarity on their definition, basic rights, obligations and legal status. Have a look at the full document ➡️ https://bit.ly/3PupvIE

Expect to see lots on IBRs/ renewable sector

Today we focus on CAIDI, among the metrics for measuring utility-service reliability. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gW6rJviC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission #CAIDI

THIS IS A BIG DEAL. This conference is held annually and always discusses the most important issues facing FERC and the industry through the reliability lens. This particular tech conference will focus on "policy issues related to the reliability and security of the Bulk Power System. The conference will also discuss the impact of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule under section 111 of the Clean Air Act on electric reliability."