As Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) adoption is reaching commercial maturity in some power markets like California Independent System Operator (CAISO), NYISO, and ISO-NE, and the regulatory environment decidedly in favor of renewables, efficiency, and Demand Response (DR), it is clear that changing utility landscape is irreversible. New legislations like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) 764 that calls for the integration of variable energy resources and intra-hour scheduling, and the January 2016 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld FERC Order No. 745 that regulates retail sales of power and its provision for DR participation and compensation in wholesale markets are harbingers of a new order for utilities. To compound these emerging challenges, utilities are faced with declining revenues, capacity challenges at the grid edge, reliability and resiliency, and more.

It is increasingly apparent that utilities need to offer new services to fill in the revenue gap. Moreover, the emphasis on customer choice, emergence of Curtailment Service Providers (CSPs), and un-coordinated operation of customer-side distributed resources give rise to new operational problems for system operators. The new Distribution System Operator (DSO) construct of a few years ago is apparently the direction the industry will have to take. OATI DSO Technical Report: Transactive Open Access Distribution System Operation lays out the likely options to be adopted and how to resolve challenges posed by a DSO Transactive Energy Market.

Interested in learning more? Request this easy-to-read report to learn how OATI proposes to resolve the supply and demand variations at the distribution level and link the wholesale and retail market agents, while maintaining the traditional role of the operator as a custodian of distribution system reliability and resiliency.