Executive Summary
- Battery energy storage systems in CAISO earned over $12 million in Bid Cost Recovery (BCR) payments between January and August 2024, providing a 4% boost to wholesale market revenues.
- 98% of BCR payments to batteries came from the Real-Time Market, as deviations from Day-Ahead schedules led to compensation for lost revenue opportunities.
- CAISO is tightening BCR rules to prevent strategic bidding, introducing a proxy price mechanism to limit payments while ensuring batteries recover legitimate opportunity costs.
Subscribers to Modo Energy’s Research will also find out:
- How batteries leveraged BCR payments for strategic advantage and why some earned more than others.
- What CAISO’s new BCR rules mean for battery operators, and how they will change revenue potential in 2025.
- Why BCR has been more significant for batteries than for traditional generators, and what this says about CAISO’s evolving market design.
To get full access to Modo Energy’s Research, book a call with a member of the team today.
Bid Cost Recovery payments provide battery energy storage with a 4% top-up on wholesale revenues
Between January and August 2024, battery energy storage systems in CAISO earned over $12 million in Bid Cost Recovery (BCR) payments.
These payments provided a 4% top-up on wholesale market revenues - on average - through the first eight months of 2024.