Non-Transmission Alternatives, Distributed Energy Resources, and a Multi-Directional Grid

摘要

If impetus for FERC action, specifically for transmission planning and more generally for the electric grid, is expected, how then, should FERC act? One option is to follow an already established form: experimentation in federally regulated markets and regions followed by consistent policy. Indeed, demand response naturally evolved in this way, first instituted by regional marketplaces in varying ways and degrees, with FERC only creating uniform policy after the resource's value became clear. States remain 'laboratories of democracy,' but viewed through the framework laid out above, FERC regulated markets may become the 'laboratories of innovation' for the increasingly interconnected electric sector.