SB 913 would mandate the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish a valuation methodology for customer-sited BESS to export power onto the grid during periods of system stress.
The legislation builds upon a recent California Independent System Operator (CAISO) staff proposal that permits exports from behind-the-meter batteries to participate in the statewide energy market.
This framework would enable aggregated fleets of customer batteries to qualify for resource adequacy (RA) contracts based on the full volume of stored energy they can dispatch on demand.
Under current market rules, fleets of customer devices can only participate in the RA market to the extent those assets reduce consumption at individual customer sites.
If any customer within an aggregated fleet exports energy back to the grid, that exported power receives zero valuation—a structure that significantly constrains the volume of energy fleet operators can offer to the wholesale market.
