Washington, DC – Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) issued a statement on the approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of several grid operators’ plans to incorporate cutting-edge energy storage technology into America’s electric grids.
“Thank you to the Commission for heeding our calls to finalize the grid operator plans and this important rule, and also for fending off polluters’ attempts to weaken that rule. This helps forward-thinking regulators and utilities, like ours in New England, to deploy battery storage on a more resilient grid with lower carbon emissions — a clear win-win,” said Whitehouse and Markey. “Now, we urge the Commission to complete the pending distributed generation rule. Combined with the storage rule, that will help integrate local sources like rooftop solar into the grid — another major win.”
Whitehouse and Markey have been pushing FERC to finalize rules to help renewable energy installations contribute carbon-free energy to the grid. The senators met with FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee before his confirmation to discuss the important role FERC plays in growing the renewable energy industry in general, and the energy storage and renewable energy aggregator proposal specifically. They also led a group of six senators in calling on FERC to move promptly to finalize the two-part rule.
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