Pierce Atwood enjoys a national reputation advising clients on the rapidly growing area of energy storage projects. We have extensive experience working with energy storage companies before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Independent System Operators/Regional Transmission Operators, and public service commissions on issues including, but not limited to, capacity accreditation, storage-as-transmission assets, and hybrid resources. We provide significant value to clients by offering a deep understanding of the regulatory process and how regulators are likely to rule on particular issues. We served as outside counsel to the U.S. Energy Storage Association from 2006-2021, prior to its merger into the American Clean Power Association (ACP). Pierce Atwood’s energy attorneys, among other matters, led efforts on behalf of the energy storage industry that resulted in FERC Orders Nos. 755 (pay for performance for frequency regulation), 784 (Third-Party Provision of Ancillary Services; Accounting and Financial Reporting for New Electric Storage Technologies), 792 (interconnection of small generation interconnection agreements), 841 (expansion of the storage industry into the energy, capacity and ancillary services markets), and 2222 (distributed energy resources). We actively work with ISOs/RTOs and FERC to help develop innovative tariffs to allow new energy storage technologies to operate on the grid and to be paid for the benefits they provide, including for voltage regulation, peak shaving, grid reliability and environmental value.

Our energy lawyers understand the challenges facing the energy storage marketplace, including those associated with integrating storage technologies into the grid and utility distribution systems, and how these technologies can be incorporated to help alleviate those challenges. We have extensive experience working with ISOs/RTOs and utilities to ensure that new technologies satisfy reliability and other regulatory thresholds.

Advanced Technologies

Pierce Atwood’s energy attorneys work closely with companies that seek to incorporate alternative technologies onto the grid or distribution systems, including synchronous condensers, compressed air, batteries, flywheels, and tidal wave, among other technologies. These energy storage companies seek our services to gain an understanding of the regulatory environment, to help use existing rules and regulations to establish a market for their technology, and to develop successful, innovative legal and strategic initiatives to ensure that their technologies are chosen to include on the grid.

Our law firm has successfully worked with utilities and grids to formulate and initiate pilot programs to test new energy storage technologies for incorporation into the grid or a distribution system. We work with these entities to collect the data needed to demonstrate success - both for the development of future projects and to encourage investors to help finance those projects.

Representative Experience

We have been retained by an independent electricity transmission company to help them develop an energy storage business plan, evaluate battery vendors, prepare vendor contracts, and assist with applicable regulatory approvals and permits.

Assisting Electricity Transmission Company with Energy Storage Plan

We negotiated with a utility to ensure that our client’s compressed air technology could operate on the system.

Compressed Air Technology

We are assisting Via Science to provide reliability services for grid operators by collecting and analyzing data.

Data Collection & Analysis for Grid Reliability

We advocate for RES-Americas before FERC and state initiatives to help ensure the use of our client’s battery systems on the grid.

FERC Advocacy

We represent Eolian before ISO-NE and FERC as pertains to their bid into the Forward Capacity Auction (FCA).

ISO-NE Forward Capacity Auction

We represented the U.S. Energy Storage Association before FERC, state PUCs, and ISOs/RTOs to develop and implement rules and regulations in the capacity, energy, and ancillary services markets.

U.S. Energy Storage Association in FERC & Other Matters