FERC Seeks Public Comment on Grid Integration of Renewable Resources

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week said it would take a fresh look at regulatory policies to integrate variable renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, or non-storage hydro generating plants into the nation’s power grid while maintaining power system reliability.

The agency said that the growing use of variable energy resources offered benefits such as “low marginal energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas and other emissions”—but that it presents a unique challenge to the power industry, such as location constraints and limited ability to dispatch.

Special interconnection procedures for wind generation have been implemented for FERC, but the agency acknowledged that its existing open access rulemakings were not necessarily designed to accommodated variable energy resources. Last week, therefore, the agency issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking public comment on whether to reform any of its rules of procedures as the country increases its use of these variable energy resources.

The agency asked that commenters look at the broad issues concerning the integration of variable generation resources, including data and reporting requirements, scheduling flexibility, forward market structure and reliability commitments, and sustainability of reserve products.

In a statement on the NOI, FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer stressed that the NOI would not seek to “change rules for certain types of resources to incent certain types of energy resources or create preferences as between types of resources.” It asks, instead, “whether any of the rule or practice changes that may facilitate the integration renewables should also apply to conventional resources to ensure that rates are just and reasonable and that we deter undue discrimination,” he said.

Comments on the NOI are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Source: FERC