Incentivizing Utilities to Embrace DER

MCLI Recommendation: “State PUCs should encourage utilities to begin using grid-connected PV along with distributed batter storage to provide the valuable benefits of resilience and emergency backup for their services. Consequently, PUCs should discourage, and perhaps penalize, utilities for delaying approval for DG-plus-storage systems.”

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Example Public Utilities

Tucson Electric Power’s DER investments

Tucson Electric Power signed an agreement with NextEra Energy to build a 100 MW solar array and a 30 MWh battery system, expected to provide solar power at less than $0.03/kWh by the end of 2019.

Example Public Utilities

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative investments in DER

Hawaii’s Kauai Island Utility Cooperative signed contracts for 13 MW of solar and a 52 MWh battery with Solar City in 2015. In 2017, the Cooperative announced plans to purchase a 28 MW solar array and...

Example Public Utilities

Mississippi IRP Process

In 2019, the Mississippi Public Service Commission adopted a formal integrated resource planning process that requires utilities to consider distributed energy resources and demand-side management (in...