Electric Car Owners Will Soon Be Able to Trade Power in the U.S.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a rule aimed at allowing owners of rooftop solar panels, home batteries and even electric vehicles to supply wholesale power markets.

The regulator’s decision on Thursday requires regional transmission organizations and independent system operators in California and elsewhere to remove barriers to the participation of so-called distributed energy resources in the market through aggregating companies.

The use of domestic batteries and electric vehicles is expected to become more widespread over the next few years, creating significant additional energy capacity. FERC’s rule may help create mechanisms for those supplies to move efficiently through the ...