Smooth Clean Energy Rollout Faces Limits in Power Market Policy

Seventeen months ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission promised “a new day” for a wide array of consumer energy products: rooftop solar, controllable thermostats and water heaters, electric vehicles, and backup generators that could compete with power plants in the energy markets.

The landmark order creating a rule for distributed energy resources—small-scale power generation or storage technologies—was crucial for grid operators to manage increasingly large amounts of renewable energy while facing extreme weather events and cyberattack threats, supporters said.

But now, FERC is weighing proposals that could curtail the rule’s reach and possibly its full potential to ensure a smooth ...