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Energy
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General Market Commentary
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General Energy
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General Market Commentary
U.S. regulator moves to clear market barriers for energy storage technology
In a boost for electric storage technology, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday approved a new rule to remove barriers to batteries and other storage resources in U.S. power markets.
The FERC order will “enhance competition and promote greater efficiency in the nation’s electric wholesale markets, and will help support the resilience of the bulk power system,” the commission said in a statement.
The commission found in November 2016 that existing market rules that governed traditional electric generation resources created barriers to entry for electric storage technologies.
Thursday’s decision changes the rules to “properly recognize the physical and operational characteristics of electric storage resources.”
The market for energy storage is small, but growing as the costs of battery systems have fallen domestically. Batteries can help solve the intermittent nature of renewable energy - dependent on sun and wind - compared with more generation sources like gas and coal, which can run all the time.
Last month, FERC voted to reject a directive by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to consider a plan to subsidize coal and nuclear plants for what he said were their contributions in making the power grid more reliable and resilient.