Third-Party Provision of Ancillary Services; Accounting and Financial Reporting for New Electric Storage Technologies

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its regulations to foster competition and transparency in ancillary services markets. The Commission is revising certain aspects of its current market-based rate regulations, ancillary services requirements under the pro forma open-access transmission tariff (OATT), and accounting and reporting requirements. Specifically, the Commission is revising its regulations to reflect reforms to its Avista policy governing the sale of ancillary services at market-based rates to public utility transmission providers. The Commission is also requiring each public utility transmission provider to add to its OATT Schedule 3 a statement that it will take into account the speed and accuracy of regulation resources in its determination of reserve requirements for Regulation and Frequency Response service, including as it reviews whether a self-supplying customer has made "alternative comparable arrangements" as required by the Schedule. The final rule also requires each public utility transmission provider to post certain Area Control Error data as described in the final rule. Finally, the Commission is revising the accounting and reporting requirements under its Uniform System of Accounts for public utilities and licensees and its forms, statements, and reports, contained in FERC Form No. 1, Annual Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees and Others, FERC Form No. 1-F, Annual Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees, and FERC Form No. 3-Q, Quarterly Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies, to better account for and report transactions associated with the use of energy storage devices in public utility operations.