The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday (Sept. 17) ruled that aggregators of distributed energy resources can compete in competitive wholesale electricity markets. The ruling, Order 2222, was not a surprise
What was surprising was the nature of the 2-1 vote approving the new rule. Chairman Neil Chatterjee, a Republican Trump administration appointee, and Commissioner Richard Glick, a Trump Democratic appointee, voted for the rule. Commissioner James Danly, a Republican and the most recent Trump appointee, who was FERC general counsel before Trump nominated him, voted against the rule.
The mystery is what Danly’s reasoning was. He declined to describe his views in the meeting. Veteran energy reporter Rod Kuckro commented, “ The ever-loquacious Commissioner James Danly dissents on the DER order; does not take the opportunity to explain but simply point the public to his dissent.” The dissent had not appeared on the FERC website by close of business Thursday.
Danly’s dissent could be interesting. As general counsel he defended FERC at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Order 841, which told FERC to remove barriers to allowing energy storage to participate in wholesale competitive markets, but punted on the same status for DERs.
In Thursday’s ruling, Chatterjee (who is every bit as loquacious as Danly), said, ““Today FERC broke new ground towards creating the grid of the future by knocking down barriers to entry for emerging technologies. With this final rule on DERs, we build on the significant progress already made through Order 841 and expand our ability to harness the full potential of these flexible resources. By relying on simple market principles and unleashing the power of innovation, this order will allow us to build a smarter, more dynamic grid that can help America keep pace with our ever-evolving energy demands. I am honored to be at the helm of the agency as we bring this critical rule across the finish line and continue to navigate our nation’s energy transition.”
Glick commented, ““The rule will enhance grid reliability, expand market competition and reduce consumer electric costs.”
The FERC ruling won widespread praise and no public criticism. National business group Advanced Energy Economy praised FERC for “taking this critical and long-awaited step to open competitive wholesale electric markets to distributed energy resources.” The group said the FERC action “will improve competition, lower rates, give consumers more choice, and provided needed flexibility that will support the reliability and resilience of our electricity grid.”
Energy reporter Zack Hale for S&P Global Market Intelligence, tweeted, “I checked with all the affected grid operators, and so far only two have given specific numbers for total installed DER capacity on their systems: ISO-NE: 7437 MW NYISO: 2669 MW.”
–Kennedy Maize