Energy Storage Resource Participation in Electricity Markets

The recent rolling blackouts in the CAISO grid and the impacts of the extreme weather events in the Southern parts of the US have raised serious concerns in the areas of resource adequacy and grid resilience. The extensive reliance on deeper penetrations of renewable resources, such as wind and solar, in various jurisdictions is accompanied by the integration of energy storage resources and the retirement of controllable fossil-fired resources. In light of these developments, the panel aims to explore the utilization to date of the recently integrated energy storage resources in grids that have associated electricity markets. The principal topics to be discussed include the nature and scope of regulatory initiatives to enable storage resource participation in electricity markets, the range of grid services provided by storage resources, the thrusts of the RTOs/ISOs/TSOs™ approaches to address regulatory requirements, the evolving role of resource aggregators and the impacts of storage participation on market outcomes. In addition, the panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by storage resource participants, aggregators, existing market players and the grid operators in the areas of policy, regulation, market design and system and market operations.