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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 68. Public Interest Organizations request that the Commissions direction that the length of time needed to complete the distribution utility review should not exceed 60 days be clarified to indicate that 60 days is the firm limit on the amount of time for distribution utility review.175 Public Interest Organizations also urge the Commission to encourage development of shorter review periods involving initial registration of aggregations under a certain size or additions of resources under certain sizes to an existing aggregation.176

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b. Commission Determination 69. We deny AEE/AEMAs and Public Interest Organizations requested clarifications with respect to energy efficiency resources and resources that do not inject power into the distribution system. Although such resources participating in distributed energy resource aggregations may be less likely to pose distribution reliability concerns than other types of distributed energy resources, we find that including them in the distribution utility review process is also necessary in order for the reviewing utility to consider nonreliability issues associated with such resources as part of an aggregation, such as the potential for double-counting of peak load reductions provided by energy efficiency resources that participate in both retail programs and wholesale markets. Further, assuming that AEE/AEMA and Public Interest Organizations are correct that such resources by nature have no negative reliability impacts,177 the incremental time and effort required by the reviewing utility to reach that conclusion will likely be negligible, therefore diminishing the value of the presumption requested by Public Interest Organizations.
70. We grant Public Interest Organizations request to clarify that only the distribution utility hosting a distributed energy resource i.e., the utility that owns and/or operates the distribution system to which the resource is interconnected should be given an opportunity to review the 175 Id. at 37 quoting Order No. 2222, 172 FERC
61,247 at P 295.
176 Id. at 3738.
177 See, e.g., AEE/AEMA Request for Rehearing at 20 By their very nature, energy efficiency resources do not burden utility systems because neither they nor their aggregators negatively impact the cost, operation, or reliability of distribution utilities or the distribution system. Energy efficiency resources effectively reduce electricity demand without the need for an RTO/ISO or a utility to take any actionsthey operate without a dispatch signal and do not put any power out onto the distribution grid..

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addition of that resource to a distributed energy resource aggregation. We believe that adding a resource to a distributed energy resource aggregation is unlikely to directly affect the distribution system of more than the one distribution utility that hosts the distributed energy resource. Disputes regarding the distribution utility review process including those between non-host distribution utilities and a host distribution utility or the RTO/ISO
may be resolved through the RTOs/
ISOs dispute resolution process, the Commissions Dispute Resolution Service, or complaints filed pursuant to FPA section 206 at any time.178
71. We deny Public Interest Organizations requested clarification regarding distribution utility review when a distributed energy resource leaves an aggregation. Although any modification triggers the distribution utility review process, the Commission clarified that it may be appropriate for each RTO/ISO to abbreviate the distribution utilitys review of modifications to distributed energy resource aggregations, including the addition or removal of individual resources.179 As the Commission explained, in most cases, removal of an individual resource from an aggregation should not negatively impact the distribution system. Nevertheless, the Commission found that an abbreviated process allows distribution utilities to update their records and ensure that the removal does not create negative impacts. Occasionally, the removal of a resource, particularly a large resource, from an aggregation could drastically change the operation and configuration of an aggregation on the distribution system and would need to be examined by a distribution utility. However, because such drastic impacts will likely be the exception more than the rule, we encourage RTOs/ISOs to propose abbreviated distribution utility review processes for modifications to existing aggregations. For example, an RTO/ISO
may propose an abbreviated distribution utility review process as a default when an existing aggregation is modified but allow for a more fulsome review when a modification surpasses some materiality threshold or meets certain criteria.
72. We grant Public Interest Organizations request to limit the length of distribution utility review to no more than 60 days. As the Commission stated in Order No. 2222, a lengthy review time or the lack of a deadline could erect a barrier to 178 Order 179 Id.

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No. 2222, 172 FERC 61,247 at P 299.
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distributed energy resource participation in the RTO/ISO markets and may unduly delay participation.180
We expect that 60 days should be the maximum time needed for most distribution utility reviews. If an RTO/
ISO believes unusual circumstances could give rise to the need for additional distribution utility review time, it may propose provisions for certain exceptional circumstances that may justify additional review time. In addition, as Public Interest Organizations request, we encourage shorter review periods for smaller aggregations and resources to the maximum extent practicable, and reiterate that any proposed review period must be shown to be reasonable based on what is being reviewed.
2. Information Sharing and Procedural Safeguards 73. In Order No. 2222, the Commission required each RTO/ISO to establish market rules that address information and data requirements for distributed energy resource aggregations.181 To support the distribution utility review process, the Commission required RTOs/ISOs to share any necessary information and data about individual distributed energy resources with distribution utilities, and that the results of a distribution utilitys review be incorporated into the distributed energy resource aggregation registration process.182 The Commission also directed RTOs/ISOs to ensure that their distribution utility review processes are transparent and contain specific review criteria.183 Finally, the Commission required each RTO/ISO to revise its tariff to establish a process for ongoing coordination, including operational coordination, that addresses data flows and communication among itself, the distributed energy resource aggregator, and the distribution utility.184
a. Request for Clarification or Rehearing 74. Public Interest Organizations request that the Commission clarify that an aggregator should receive any information that a distribution utility provides an RTO/ISO regarding one of its resources, whether related to registration or ongoing operational coordination.185 Public Interest Organizations argue that this will enable efficient responses by aggregators to 180 Id.

P 295.
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182 Id. P 292.
183 Id. P 293.
184 Id. P 310.
185 Public Interest Organizations Request for Rehearing at 38.
181 Id.

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