Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
New Leaf Energy urges 'load‑reducer' front‑of‑meter storage to curb transmission costs
Summary
New Leaf Energy proposed a retail‑rate plus shared‑savings model for distribution‑connected, front‑of‑meter storage that would capture avoided transmission and capacity costs and finance projects without additional subsidies; EDCs raised concerns about using RNS allocations as the sole value signal.
At a Sept. 24 technical meeting of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, New Leaf Energy argued that distribution‑connected front‑of‑meter battery storage operated as “load reducers” could be financed under a bidirectional time‑of‑use retail rate combined with a pay‑for‑performance shared savings payment tied to avoided transmission (RNS) and capacity (ICAP) charges.
Jessica Robertson, director of policy and business development for New Leaf Energy, told PURA that standalone distribution storage projects of up to 5 MW AC that do not participate in wholesale markets could be dispatched to reduce local monthly transmission peaks and the annual ISO New England system peak. Robertson said avoided transmission cost savings—driven by projected growth in RNS charges—can be measured and monetized on a per‑meter basis and used to form a predictable, financeable shared‑savings revenue stream for developers.
Why it matters: ISO New England forecasts higher transmission costs as electrification and renewable deployment increase. New Leaf presented modeling (citing ISO NE analyses) showing that reducing peak load materially lowers future…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
