On May 4th, 2026, NYSEIA submitted comments in response to the notice filed by Con Edison related to its assessments of current upstream constraints and hosting capacity criteria impacting energy storage requests, and the NY-BEST petition seeking relief from Con Edison’s unilateral modifications to its method of assessing energy storage interconnection requests.

Beginning in August 2025, Con Edison changed the methodology it uses to evaluate BESS interconnection applications under the NY-SIR. Con Edison issued a letter to DER interconnection customers to inform them that their applications were being placed on hold, and that no new interconnection agreements could be issued until further evaluation was completed in impacted areas, and the utility would contact all projects that had fully executed agreements to discuss potential impacts.

NYSEIA comments that Con Edison’s “Two-Part Test” is arbitrary, unilateral, and overly conservative for flexible resources, and that there is no evidence provided for their test and it is premised on a series of overly conservative grid planning assumptions, incorrect BESS operational flexibility assumptions, and does not account for typical interconnection queue attrition rates. Con Edison has not provided any evidence of BESS charging violating its current 70% threshold. The Two-Part Test is also overlaid on rigid planning assumptions for highly flexible resources, treating BESS as an inflexible grid load that receives discriminatory priority in comparison to other loads. Con Edison’s allegations that BESS could increase costs for ratepayers has no factual basis.

NYSEIA makes recommendations for immediate relief:

• Implement updated charging profiles to reflect a 12 hour window using a curved charging schedule as an interim step toward more flexible interconnection studies

• Allow BESS to utilize capacity reserved under N-1 and N-2 capacity, utilizing Con Edison’s existing operational control infrastructure more effectively by developing the capability to actively manage distributed energy resources during system constraints and contingency events

• Eliminate 70% derate and extend the limit to 100% of capacity, with Con Edison maintaining he 85% derate capacity threshold from its previous Bulletin B-424

• The Commission direct Con Edison to file tariff language for LSRV to meet its reliability requirements with VDER-compensated resources

Further, NYSEIA makes recommendations for maintaining a long-term reliable and flexible grid:

• Leverage DERMS to actively schedule ESS operation

• Embrace performance-based ratemaking to strengthen alignment between Con Edison’s incentives and the public interest

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