An Overview of Behind-the-Meter Solar-Plus-Storage Program Design: With Considerations

This report has been prepared by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for discussion purposes with a broad range of stakeholders. These include Indian regulatory agencies (such as the Forum of Regulators, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, and various State Electricity Regulatory Commissions), policy makers, utilities, and developers to inform a broader dialogue around the future direction of Indian states’ approach to regulating and facilitating DPV-plus-storage systems. Importantly, this report is intended to offer key regulatory considerations for facilitating DPV-plus-storage programs for retail customers. As the role of regulators is often to convene and balance the interests of a broad range of stakeholders, including policymakers, utilities and customers, this report focuses on their role in the development of behind-the-meter DPV-plus-storage programs. Throughout the report, relevant cases from U.S. states are provided as examples of how novel regulatory issues related to behind-the-meter energy storage systems paired with distributed photovoltaic are being addressed in practice.