Following approval of new market rules by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) launched a first-in-the-nation program to integrate aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) — including small-scale solar arrays, residential batteries, and electric vehicles — into the wholesale electric markets.
The groundbreaking DER and Aggregation Participation Model program allows DERs to be aggregated as virtual power plants (VPPs) to provide both wholesale services to the grid operator and retail services to utilities and load servers simultaneously. This allows grid operators to unlock the full benefits of VPPs for the resiliency and reliability of the grid while also creating new revenue opportunities for commercial and industrial energy users and DER owners and developers.
“FERC’s acceptance of our landmark model is a huge win for grid reliability and energy consumers in New York,” said Rich Dewey, President and CEO of the New York Independent System Operator. “Bringing small-scale resources into our wholesale markets will add much-needed capacity to the grid and bring New York closer to reaching its ambitious climate goals. We’re excited for the future and proud to be a vanguard of DER aggregation.”
The NYISO’s new market rules allow aggregations of DER resources over 10 kilowatts, which will provide reliability benefits and other important services to the electric grid as New York continues its shift to more renewable energy resources
The NYISO forecasts distributed generation in the state to roughly double over the next three decades as the state strives to have 70% of its electricity generated by renewable resources by 2030 and achieve a 100% clean power grid by 2040.