Top 5 Utility Regulatory Trends of 2022 – So Far

Posted by Noah Garcia on Jul 13, 2022 12:00:00 PM

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With 2022 more than halfway through, AEE returns with the latest edition of its biennial top utility regulatory trends roundup. Utility regulatory commissions across the country have been off to a busy start, navigating supply chain hurdles, inflationary pressures, extreme weather events, and the accelerated adoption of clean energy technologies. With PowerSuite, AEE’s policy tracking platform, we cut through the noise to provide insights on the trends shaping utility regulation this year and in years to come.

Note: some links in this post reference PUC filings and other documents in AEE's software platform, PowerSuite. Click here and sign up for a free trial. PowerSuite – policy tracking by policy professionals.

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Topics: State Policy, PowerSuite, Utility, Regulatory, Advanced Transportation, Pennsylvania, Decision Maker Engagement, California, Nevada, Arkansas, North Dakota, Vermont, Oregon, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Colorado, Michigan

For Resilience, Texas Needs Distributed Energy Resources

Posted by Ignacio Guajardo and Angela Kent on Jun 28, 2022 11:30:00 AM

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In the winter of 2021, Texas experienced firsthand the dangers of an electric grid dependent on the seamless functioning of a small number of large, weather-vulnerable generation sources. The inability to meet the energy needs of over 70% of the state amid a winter weather crisis signals the system’s clear need for reform; so, too, the unseasonable heat waves that hit Texas this spring, which pushed grid power to its limits. With large traditional power plants taking at least six years to become operational, Texans need adaptive solutions that will meet their needs today. In the face of rapidly growing electricity demand, uncertain forecasting, and aging infrastructure, a new TAEBA report demonstrates the power of distributed energy resources as clean, low cost, and resilient tools poised to bring Texas into the 21st century of electricity provision.

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Topics: State Policy, Regulatory, Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, Texas

A Cost-Allocation Win in New York for Distributed Energy Resources

Posted by Danny Waggoner on Apr 28, 2022 9:30:00 AM

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On March 16, the New York Public Service Commission quietly adopted a significant advancement in rate design. It did so as a result of a long proceeding on standby and buyback rates, in which AEE argued that owners of distributed generation not eligible for net metering (such as standalone storage facilities and institutions with combined-heat-and-power systems) were being overcharged for the customer-specific components of those rates. While the PSC action seemingly addressed a technical matter, the impact is a big win for advanced energy in New York, as it will lead to new rates much more favorable for a range of distributed energy resources (DERs).

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Topics: State Policy, PUCs, Utility, Regulatory, New York

With Fossil Fuel Plants Overvalued, It’s Time to Get Capacity Right

Posted by Kat Burnham on Apr 14, 2022 10:30:00 AM

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Grid operators today are managing a changing portfolio mix while facing new system reliability challenges, such as extreme weather events occurring with greater frequency. As the clean energy transition accelerates, it’s vital that grid operators accurately understand how much they can count on different generating resources. They do so by evaluating the resource adequacy, or capacity value, of the resources available to determine how to meet total demand. But what happens when those methods of valuing capacity overlook certain outage risks? Some generating resources gain more reliability credit than they deserve. That is indeed happening with conventional power plants (coal, oil, and natural gas), which may be overvalued by as much as 20% under traditional methods. As new analysis commissioned by AEE shows, it’s time to get capacity right.

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Topics: Regulatory, Wholesale Markets

How to Prepare the Distribution System for DER Participation in Wholesale Markets

Posted by Lisa Frantzis, Priya Sreedharan, and Josh Keeling on Feb 28, 2022 2:00:00 PM

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On September 17, 2020, FERC issued Order 2222, directing the grid operators under its jurisdiction to pave the way for aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) into wholesale markets. Recognizing that implementation of Order 2222 requires transmission and distribution system coordination and active engagement from state utility regulators as well, AEE and GridLab convened distribution utilities and AEE members for eight months to build consensus around key distribution system issues. The focus areas of the discussion included interconnection and aggregation review; communications, controls, and coordination; dual participation in both retail programs and wholesale markets; and investment recovery and cost causation. The result is a new understanding of the challenges in making DER participation in wholesale markets work, and ways that utilities, regulators, and industry can work together to overcome them.

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Topics: State Policy, PUCs, Utility, Regulatory, Wholesale Markets

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