EPRI DER Public/Private Partnership

EPRI led a "Distributed Energy Resources Public/Private Partnership" for several years.  During 2006 and 2007, a new phase of this work was conducted with many stakeholders in Massachusetts and California.  The following documents address both this project and earlier phases of the EPRI DER Partnership.

Final Reports

• December 2008 -- Utility Business Models for Distributed Energy Resources in Massachusetts: A Report of the EPRI Distributed Energy Resources Public/Private Partnership. EPRI, Palo Alto, CA and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust
• November 2007 -- Creating Incentives for Electricity Providers to Integrate DER, a Report of the EPRI DER Public/Private Partnership, Technical Report 1014899, E. Petrill et. al., funded by California Energy Commission (John Sugar), Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (Fran Cummings), Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources (Gerry Bingham) and National Association of State Energy Officials as a State Technology Advancement Collaborative (STAC)

July 2007

• EPRI draft of Task 1 Report on workshops to date (word file)

April 4, 2007

• Presentation on Decoupling
• PEPCO Rate Stabilization Rider

January 25-26, 2007 -- Workshop 2 

• Draft Agenda (with Boston times)
  • Location of Boston site: DTE Hearing Room A
• Some of the presentations and materials presented at this workshop are listed below. 
  • Day 1 Presentations -- Morning (Jan. 25, 4.7 MB pdf)
  • Equations for Aggregate Utility Calculator
  • Key Regulatory Issues for Business Cases (additional Day 1 Presentations, Afternoon, Jan. 25, 1.7 MB pdf)

Related Projects:

Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) is a co-sponsor of the EPRI-STAC project and a sponsor of the following two interrelated projects which are also designed to contribute to the development of win-win business and regulatory policies to support renewable DG and other clean distributed and demand resources.

• MTC Congestion Relief Pilots
• Distribution Planning Working Group (DPWG)
• Information on other pilots of "Smart DER Technologies"

Other recent information:

• April 14, 2007 -- Saving power and profit: State seeks way for utilities to push conservation, not lose money, Boston Globe
• 12/8/06 -- Presentation on EPRI/STAC Project by John Nimmons at Restructuring Roundtable (ppt file)
  • (see other presentations on pros and cons of utility ownership of generation at Roundtable website)

October-December 2006 -- Work Groups.  Some of the materials under consideration by 2 Work Groups are listed below, but should be treated as DRAFTS for discussion only. 

• Customer-Owned DER Work Group:
  • Notes from 3 calls in October-November 2006
  • November 2006 -- An Approach for the Deployment of Energy Recycling in Ontario: Executive Briefing, The Ontario Alliance for Clean Technology
  • August 2006 -- Examples of Good, Bad, and Ugly Decoupling Mechanisms, Jim Lazar
• Utility-Owned DER Work Group:

September 28-29, 2006 -- Boston Workshop.  Some of the materials presented at this workshop are listed below. 

• Background paper for the opening workshop: Business Models and Regulatory Templates to Engage Regulated Utilities in Distributed Energy Resource Activities
  • 2 Summary Tables with 6 Potential Utility Roles
• Agenda
• Attendee List (excel file)
• Selected Presentations:
• 1: EPRI DER Public/Private Partnership: How We Got Here, Ellen Petrill
• 2: DER Market Integration: The Fundamental Challenge and Project Approach
• 3: Overview: Business Models, Regulatory Templates, and Stakeholder Impacts, by John Nimmons
• 5b: Regulatory Templates For Utility Business Roles
• August 2006 -- Abstract of the Project (pdf, 4 pages)

Documents from Previous Phases of DER Partnership

• June 2006 -- DER Stakeholder Collaboration at Work: Shaping a California DER Procurement, a Report of the EPRI DER Public/Private Partnership, Technical Update
• December 2005 -- EPRI Press Release announcing award of STAC grant to DOER
• December 2005 -- EPRI article on Intelligrid
• October 2005 -- Update from Ellen Petrill (email)
• July 11, 2005 -- STAC proposal submitted by Massachusetts DOER with EPRI and other co-sponsors, with a detailed scope of work
• May 2005 -- EPRI Massachusetts Report (Appendix C of 2005 Report)
• Contact Ellen Petrill (650-855-8939) to discuss ways to participate in this project.

The following two regional activities are currently working on related matters:

• Treatment of Distributed Resources Under ISO-New England Market Rules

  • Information on the treatment of Distributed Resources for new capacity payments under ISO-New England market rules is available at the ISO Market Rules page.

• Materials From MADRI and PJM

  • Significant discussions are also underway at MADRI on innovative regulatory and business models.  See "Materials Presented at MADRI" at the Win-Win Frameworks page.
  • June 2006 -- MADRI Policy Statement in Support of DER Initiatives, Mid-Atlantic Distributed Resources Initiative Working Group
  • January 2006 -- MADRI: Presentation to Massachusetts Symposium on Technical and Business Challenges for DG to Play a Role in T&D Planning, Richard Sedano, Regulatory Assistance Project
  • A pilot project similar to MTC's Congestion Relief Pilots is underway in New Jersey, funded by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program, as described in detail in the following solicitation: April 2006 -- Utility Distributed Energy Resources Pilot Project Grant Solicitation (word)

Source and reference materials are available at the following MTC web pages:

• Potential Win-Win Business & Regulatory Frameworks

• Win-Win Regulatory Policies in Other States

• DG Benefits and Costs

• Economics of Renewable DG

• Environmental Benefits and Impacts of DG

• Methodologies for Addressing DG in Distribution Planning

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Suggestions for additional resources, or other questions or comments about win-win business and regulatory frameworks for DG may be directed to:

          Fran Cummings, RET Policy Director