Give a little to get a little: A DER Bill of Rights and Responsibilities provides the social license for participation and control in DER-dominated grids - an Australian example

Abstract

When distributed solar photovoltaic systems (PV) provide the majority of supply in electricity grids, system operators and network service providers require increased control of customer-owned assets to maintain system security, reliability and equity. Several programs of reform for distributed energy resources (DER) in Australia, USA and Europe have emphasised the importance of placing customers at the centre of any energy transition, but this has occurred against a haphazard backdrop of proposed solar export taxes, decreasing feed-in tariffs, time-varying export incentives and updated inverter standards. Absent is a conversation of how the social contract of connecting to the electricity grid is evolving beyond the passive expectation of electricity supply of the 19th and 20th centuries to a two-way engagement that must support fairness for both DER-owners and non-owners in grids that are at times dominated by DER. This paper proposes a first attempt at a ‘DER Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’ to provide a template for this required social-license, distinguishing between passive grid participation (passive loads, traditional use, PV self-consumption) and active grid participation (grid interaction for remuneration). Guiding principles of fairness are presented with practical definitions for implementation, referencing existing instruments including inverter standards, network connection agreements, reliability standards, and central ancillary service markets. The intent is that clarity on rights to self-consumption and passive participation will support customer trust in the responsibilities for active DER integration and control. We highlight how proposed rights are already being breached regularly in Australia, as an example jurisdiction, before outlining a pathway to enshrine them for a DER-dominated future with broad sector endorsement. These questions are critical for Australia to address now; other jurisdictions will likely be required to do so in the near future.