The Independent Electricity System Operator held a public webinar on March 29th announcing the Renewable Distributed Generation Integration (RDGI) Program Fund and the first call for applications for Virtual Net Metering (VNM) Demonstration Projects.
The IESO plans to post the draft application package and the draft contribution agreement in mid-June. Once these documents are posted, the IESO plans to schedule a Webinar in early July, to discuss the complete set of draft documents (Application Guidelines, Application Package and the Contribution Agreement). Following the webinar, the IESO will provide approximately two weeks for stakeholders to submit comments on the complete package of draft documents.
Questions and comments may be submitted, until the end of the submission period following the webinar in July, to IESO Engagement at
As the IESO observes, the adoption of renewable distributed generation and other distributed energy resources (DERs) is leading to a more decentralized and interconnected system. There are now over 4,300 MW of DERs in service and under development in Ontario, more than half of which is solar photovoltaics. This is changing the historical one-way, top-down flow of electricity in the system, increasingly contributing to planning and operational challenges while also creating opportunities to use resources in novel ways and to help meet system needs.
The objective of the RDGI Fund is to develop a program to support a select number of innovative renewable distributed generation demonstration projects in order to gain direct experience with integration of distributed energy resources, refine methodologies for assessing value, and to inform the evolution of grid systems, processes, and practices.