New York is crafting one of the most ambitious energy storage targets in the nation, but major barriers could make it difficult to meet the target, according to a recent filing with state regulators by storage developer GI Energy.
The affiliate of Shell New Energies US argues that energy storage developers face “massive uncertainty” regarding undefined delivery service rates for energy storage placed in front of the meter. The company made the argument within a docket that the Public Service Commission opened seeking comments on the state’s energy storage roadmap (Case 18-E-0130).
Andrew Cuomo, New York’s Democratic governor, has called for a 1,500 MW energy storage target, but state agencies in June released an energy storage roadmap that cites the potential for as much as 3,000 MW.
The commission, along with other state agencies, is in the process of drawing up the target and the rules that will govern energy storage.
The rates that would apply to those projects, however, remain “to be determined” for most New York utilities, the GI Energy filing states, leading to ambiguity and “costly, protracted debate and negotiation on a case-by-case, territory-by-territory basis, inflating project delivery times, legal fees and related soft costs.”
Uneven playing field
Because third parties are unable to price their projects properly, they face an uneven playing field, GI Energy argues.
And, “perhaps most confounding of all,” GI Energy writes, utilities can deem their own energy storage projects as grid assets subject to no delivery bills while third party projects are treated as new retail accounts that are billed for delivery” — as if they were any other commercial behind the meter service.
As a result, what could be the single biggest operating expense for energy storage developers remains undefined in New York, the filing states.
“Other developers are just becoming more and more aware of this,” said Pete Falcier, vice president of analytics and regulatory affairs at GI Energy.
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