Customers paying for a grid service should not disappear from the accounting when the same storage asset earns money elsewhere. That is the public-interest issue in FERC's policy statement effective February 6. It permits storage resources to seek cost-based recovery for certain services while earning market revenues from separate services, without guaranteeing recovery for every project. [2017-02421][2016-28194]

The guidance identifies crediting market revenues to cost-based ratepayers as one possible way to prevent duplicate recovery of the same costs. The amount depends on the arrangement; it is not a universal refund formula. FERC also clarified that its earlier Western Grid decision was tied to that project's facts, not a requirement that all storage providers abandon market sales. [2017-02421][2016-28194]

Operational promises matter alongside financial ones. Multiple services depend on technical capability and sufficiently predictable demand for the cost-based service to manage charge. That service receives priority when needed. Market-based offers should remain under the owner's or operator's control, preserving independence of the regional grid operator rather than turning it into the storage owner's trading desk. [2017-02421][2016-28194]

A separate proposal published in November sought market participation rules suited to storage and distributed-resource aggregations. Access and compensation are different questions. The majority was not persuaded that concurrent revenues would harm competitors, but Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur dissented over competitive impacts and timing. These records offer a framework for judging who pays and who controls an asset, not evidence of smaller household bills. [2017-02421][2016-28194]

Source documents

  1. Utilization of Electric Storage Resources for Multiple Services When Receiving Cost-Based Rate Recoveryhttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-02-06/html/2017-02421.htm
  2. Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operatorshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-11-30/html/2016-28194.htm