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CRI leads successful effort to prepare Maryland for the widespread use of smart inverters

CRI’s leadership of the smart inverter work group in Maryland’s grid modernization docket has resulted in the adoption of important new interconnection regulations in the State.  Regulations adopted on March 31, 2020 require Maryland’s utilities to propose standard approaches to voltage control and ride-through for smart inverters, and require all inverters installed after January 1, 2022 to comply with the new IEEE 1547-2018 standard.  The new requirements will boost distribution system hosting capacity, help assure the safe and stable operation of the distribution grid, and allow PJM to operate more reliably as distributed generation expands. 

Read more about CRI’s efforts and the new Maryland regulations here, and download CRI’s comments summarizing the new smart inverter requirements here.

CRI’s white paper, It’s Time for States to Get Smart About Smart Inverters, with recommendations for state regulators, can be downloaded free here.

CRI Provides Expert Witness Testimony in Smart Inverter Docket

The Center for Renewables Integration is supporting the Natural Resources Defense Council, providing expert testimony in Pennsylvania on smart inverter deployment. PPL Electric Utilities filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission in 2019, requesting authorization to require all new DERs equipped with inverters to install communications equipment linked to PPL’s distributed energy resource management system (DERMS). PPL’s request would also authorize the utility to control the inverters remotely at its discretion. CRI witness educates the Commission on risks of that approach and recommends establishing a statewide stakeholder process to determine new smart inverter standards, in line with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ recent resolution, and advocates taking maximum advantage of IEEE-1547-2018 compliant inverters’ autonomous capabilities. Link to the NARUC resolution here, and to CRI’s white paper “It’s Time for States to Get Smart About Smart Inverters” here.

CRI Supporting District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment in Evaluating Options for Increasing Procurement of Renewable Energy

CRI is providing ongoing support to the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), evaluating options for cost effective renewable electricity purchases in the District. CRI’s feasibility study, “Increasing the Renewable Energy Content of Standard Offer Service” has been submitted and filed by the DOEE in an ongoing proceeding before the District’s Public Service Commission.  CRI’s Harry Warren was the study’s author.