In their final meetings of the year, the California Independent System Operator’s (ISO) governing entities adopted policies and tools to support system reliability and selected the 2023 chair and vice chair for the Board of Governors.
The ISO Board and Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) Governing Body approved the Energy Storage Enhancements and Resource Sufficiency Energy Enhancements initiatives in their joint meeting Wednesday. Both proposals are scheduled to be implemented by this summer when extreme heat can create high demand for energy resources during critical hours.
With nearly 5,000 megawatts (MW) of storage resources now connected to the grid, the storage enhancements proposal reflects the ISO’s continuing work with industry stakeholders to refine its policies ensuring batteries are accurately priced in the realtime market and fully charged to provide energy when needed.
The Energy Storage Enhancements proposal adopted by the Board and WEIM Governing Body encompassed several refinements, including:
• Improved accounting of a battery’s state of charge, certifying the resources are available when needed; and,
• Improved tools for exceptional dispatch to make sure the resources are adequately compensated so the batteries’ energy is available to meet load during peak hours.
The Board and Governing Body also approved the WEIM Resource Sufficiency Evaluation (RSE) Enhancement Phase 2 initiative to make sure the WEIM entities have enough capacity and energy in the real-time market to meet their demand before voluntarily transferring electricity to other participants.
During its meeting on Thursday, the ISO Board elected Mary Leslie to serve as its chair and Jan Schori as vice chair, beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Leslie has been on the Board of Governors since 2019 and is the longtime president of the Los Angeles Business Council, a prominent organization that works with business, government, and non-profit groups to enact policies and programs aimed at strengthening the Los Angeles’ economy and quality of life. She also currently serves on the LA Sustainability Leadership Council, UCLA Advisory Committee for the Luskin Center for Innovation, LA Cleantech Incubator, and is a member of the Pacific Council of International Policy.
“This is an exciting time to be on the ISO Board of Governors as we transition to a carbon-free power system and enhanced regional coordination throughout the West, and I am honored to have been chosen by my colleagues to serve as the chair,” Leslie said.
“I thank Ash Bhagwat for his leadership as chair this past year and look forward to collaborating with my colleagues on the Board, the WEIM Governing Body, ISO employees, and our stakeholders and partners to maintain reliability for the power system as we work to integrate higher levels of renewable resources and new energy technologies onto the grid.”
Schori has an impressive record of executive leadership in the electric industry. She served as the general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), and was a trustee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
Schori continues to serve on the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) Board of Directors, which develops protocols and tracks greenhouse gas reduction projects.
Leslie and Schori will serve as Board chair and vice chair until Dec. 31, 2023.