Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

16516

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with RULES

demand response.56 They argue however that, under Order No. 2222, distributed energy resource aggregations that have the same ability to meet the qualification and performance requirements are treated differently depending on whether they contain demand response resources or not, which means the ability to compete turns not on the services provided or their cost, but instead on the equipment by which the service is produced. They state that, for example, energy storage resources can be deployed to shape load profiles, shift demand, or modulate demand within a distributed energy resource aggregation in the same manner as most demand response technologies, but air conditioning load control would not be allowed to provide the same service within a distributed energy resource aggregation.57 They assert that there is no justification for such discriminatory treatment based solely on the type of equipment by which the service is delivered.58
19. Finally, Public Interest Organizations argue that the opt-out is a barrier to competition and the full potential benefits of Order No. 2222
cannot be realized as long as the opt-out remains in place.59 They assert that adopting an opt-out applicable to distributed energy resource aggregations that incorporate demand response directly contradicts the Commissions goal to enable heterogeneous aggregations that allow different technologies to provide complementary capabilities at lowest cost, and to unleash competition that spurs innovation and the next generation of technologies and business models.60
Specifically, they assert that distributed energy resource aggregations will not be able to incorporate the complementary capabilities of existing and enhanced demand response technologies that would support the integration of large shares of variable renewable resources and create significant economic and reliability benefits.61
20. AEE/AEMA request that the Commission clarify that the opt-out and opt-in requirements of Order No. 719
will apply only to the non-injection portion of an individual distributed energy resource and not to the injection portion of an individual distributed energy resource.62 According to AEE/
56 Id. at 1920 citing Demand Response Supporters v. N.Y. Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., 145
FERC 61,162, at P 32 2013.
57 Id. at 20.
58 Id. at 2021.
59 Id. at 2124.
60 Id. at 22.
61 Id. at 2324.
62 AEE/AEMA Request for Rehearing at 4.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

15:52 Mar 29, 2021

Jkt 253001

AEMA, the Commissions discussion of how its prior rules regarding demand response resources interact with Order No. 2222 may inadvertently limit the participation of individual distributed energy resources that are configured to engage in both non-injection demand response and injection of energy onto the grid to make wholesale sales.63 AEE/
AEMA state that it is increasingly common for a single customer load site to include installed energy storage and/
or distributed generation resources that have the technical capability to both facilitate demand reduction at the customers location, and inject energy to provide a broader set of wholesale services, depending on the customers or the grids needs and market signals at any given time. They assert that, while such a distributed energy resources reduction of consumption of electric energy from expected consumption fits the Commissions definition of demand response, it also has the technical capability to inject energy onto the grid and engage in a broader set of wholesale market activities as part of a distributed energy resource aggregation.64 AEE/AEMA contend that interpreting Order No. 2222 as requiring the application of the opt-out and optin requirements of Order No. 719 to the entire resource would inappropriately expand the scope of Order No. 719 and work against the overall objective of Order No. 2222 to enhance market competition and ensure just and reasonable rates.65
21. According to AEE/AEMA, their requested clarification is technology neutral and would ensure that technologies other than the demand response resources that were the sole focus of Order No. 719 are not inadvertently excluded from distributed energy resource aggregations.66 AEE/
AEMA state that, under their requested clarification, aggregations consisting solely of demand response or utilizing the non-injection portion of other distributed energy technologies would continue to be subject to Order No. 719
and could not use Order No. 2222 to circumvent the opt-out and opt-in requirements. They further state that the clarification is consistent with the Commissions stated view of its FPA
authority because it would apply the Order No. 719 opt-out and opt-in requirements only to instances in which distributed energy resources engage in practices affecting wholesale rates and not to those in which they inject 63 Id.

at 5.
at 6 citing 18 CFR 35.28b4.
65 Id. at 6.
66 Id. at 7.
64 Id.

PO 00000

Frm 00010

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

energy or otherwise engage in wholesale sales.67
b. Commission Determination 22. We set aside in part the Commissions conclusion that the participation of demand response in distributed energy resource aggregations is subject to the opt-out and opt-in requirements of Order Nos. 719 and 719A. Pursuant to those orders, the Commissions regulations provide a RERRA the ability to prevent an aggregator of retail customers that aggregates the demand response of the customers of utilities within its borders from participating in RTO/ISO
markets.68 As discussed further below, we decline to extend this opt-out to demand response resources that participate in heterogeneous distributed energy resource aggregationsi.e., those that are made up of different types of resources including demand response as opposed to those made up solely of demand response. The opt-out will continue to apply to aggregations made up solely of resources that participate as demand response resources, consistent with our regulations.
23. In Order No. 719, the Commission defined an aggregator of retail customers as an entity that aggregates demand response bids which are mostly from retail loads. 69 Since that time, the Commissions regulations have precluded aggregations of retail customers from participating in RTO/
ISO markets where the RERRA prohibits such participation. Prior to this rulemaking, the Commission has never addressed how the opt-out adopted in Order No. 719 applies to demand response resources that participate in RTO/ISO markets through an aggregation that is not solely made up of demand response resources. Upon reconsideration, we decline to extend the opt-out adopted in Order No. 719 to demand response resources that participate in heterogeneous distributed energy resource aggregations. We find that heterogeneous distributed energy resource aggregations that include demand response resources do not fall 67 Id. at 8 citing Order No. 2222, 172 FERC
61,247 at PP 4042, 60.
68 18 CFR 35.28g1iii; see Order No. 719, 125
FERC 61,071 at P 3 n.3 We will use the phrase aggregator of retail customers, or ARC, to refer to an entity that aggregates demand response bids which are mostly from retail loads.. The Commissions regulations define demand response as a reduction in the consumption of electric energy by customers from their expected consumption in response to an increase in the price of electric energy or to incentive payments designed to induce lower consumption of electric energy. 18
CFR 35.28b4.
69 Order No. 719, 125 FERC 61,071 at P 3 n.3.

E:FRFM30MRR1.SGM

30MRR1