On 4–5 and 12–13 March, Senior Managing Director Benjamin Chee and Senior Analyst Jane Kim facilitated a workshop in Springfield, Illinois, for the Illinois Commerce Commission to discuss critical elements related to energy storage procurement for the State of Illinois. This workshop was attended by utility representatives, consumer advocacy groups, industry associations, energy storage developers, representatives from various state agencies, and market participants.

The purpose of such workshops is to develop an effective procurement process for utility-scale energy storage resources for the State of Illinois. During this four-day workshop, the NERA team helped draft a term sheet and facilitated discussions on a variety of issues including contracting structures, commercial terms, procurement targets, and application requirements. The conduct of these workshops and NERA’s role as facilitator is pursuant to Section 16-135(g) of the Illinois Public Utilities Act as amended by newly enacted Illinois Public Act 103-1066.