US will eliminate market barriers for batteries and other storage devices
US regulators have levelled the playing field for batteries and other forms of energy storage, voting to eliminate market barriers for those technologies. On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finalised a rule that will let energy storage compete against power plants and other resources in wholesale power markets. Under the rule, technologies such as batteries and flywheel systems can be used by grid operators to dispatch power, set energy prices and offer capacity, energy and ancillary services. "Our job is not to pick winners and losers," chairperson Kevin McIntyre said before the vote, adding that the final rule would ensure all resources were allowed to compete fairly. Integrating storage into markets would enhance grid resilience, he said. Companies including AES have pushed regulators for years to remove barriers to storage. The commission’s latest move comes more than a year after it first proposed changing market rules to accommodate storage, and after Califo...
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