NARUC publications highlight distributed energy resources, grid resilience

In a pair of new publications from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) meant for utility regulators, essential resources regarding resilience and the recovery capabilities of distributed energy resources (DER) were gathered for easy reference.

“As utilities, customers, and third parties continue to invest in distributed energy resources, there’s a tremendous opportunity for state regulators to look at intersections between the electric distribution system and resilience,” CPI Director Danielle Sass Byrnett said. “These resources will help state regulators define resilience, understand investment options, and incorporate resilience into planning.”

Respectively, the pieces were Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: A Review of State Policies and Advancing Electric System Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources: Key Questions and Resources. The state policies publication reviewed the role of state regulators in resilience operations, the relationship DER maintains with resilience, and how states can implement policies to expand its deployment and improve such resilience.

By comparison, the piece resources laid out the foundation for state public utility commissions seeking to frame their reviews of proposed utility investments that could benefit resilience efforts. It also included a list of relevant resources meant to improve regulators’ oversight capabilities for resilience investments and reach better conclusions for customers.

“State regulators are increasingly expected to assess utility resilience investments and practices to determine prudence and evaluate the performance of these efforts,” Ann Rendahl, Commissioner of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and chair of NARUC’s Committee on Electricity, said. “These publications offer a comprehensive perspective for regulators and other state and local officials, moving us closer to reaching the goal of greater system resilience.”

Both publications were created by NARUC’s Center for Partnerships & Innovation in conjunction with the Solar Energy Innovation Network, a collaborative research effort led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab.