In this part 2 episode of the 3-part Untangling The Grid series, industry veteran Jon Bonanno talks to Ted Thomas, Former Chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, about the complex world of the US Electrical Grid, the thousands of utility companies and entities, and how they all work with each other.

1. Untangling The Grid: 201

2. Why is it so expensive and time consuming
to interconnect solar, wind, energy storage
and EV charging assets to the grid?

3. Ted Thomas
Founder, Energize Strategies, Inc
Former Chairman of the Arkansas
Public Service Commission

4. Who’s Who In The Zoo (Alphabet Soup)?
• FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Electrons and Natural Gas
• ISO: Independent Service Operator
• RTO: Regional Transmission Operator
• EDC: Electrical Distribution Company
• LBA/LSE: Load Balancing Authority/Load Serving Entity
• PUC: Public Utility Commission
• IOU: Investor Owned Utility
• Co-Op: Cooperatively Owned Utility
• Rate Payer: energy customer (residential/C&I)

6. Roles & Responsibilities
• Energy Customer energy demands are met when and how they are
needed
• Resource Adequacy
• Over Generation
• Cost
• Safety
• Quality

7. Roles & Responsibilities
• FERC
• Roles:
• All wholesale energy prices (sale for resale)
• Interstate transmission (electric and gas)
• RTOs
• Responsibility:
• Ensure open and fair wholesale marketplace environment

8. Roles & Responsibilities
• ISOs/RTOs
• Role:
• Created by FERC
• Implement the FERC rules
• Responsibility:
• Market operations
• Reliability (NREC)
• Cyber Security
• Regional Transmission Planning

9. Roles & Responsibilities
• PUCs/PSCs
• Role:
• Regulate state retail electricity prices
• Responsibility:
• Politically assigned or elected
• Legislative role

10. Roles & Responsibilities
• IOUs
• Role:
• Provide energy services to customers (electric and/or gas)
• Responsibility:
• PUC/PSC compliance, guaranteed service territory
• Return maximum value to shareholders

11. Recent Action/Problems
• California NEM 3.0
• FERC 2222
• Valuing Demand Flexibility
• ERCOT: 2021 frost out/black out
• MISO: skyrocketing electricity prices
• NE-ISO: landing HUGE potential offshore wind capacity
• Front of The Meter vs Behind The Meter

12. 12
System Benefits from Demand-Side Resources