In the Commission's Track One Order in the Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding, it charged the Market Design and Platform Technology Working Group with developing recommendations to be used and referenced by Staff for the utilities' Distributed System Implementation Plans (DSIPs) on near and mid-term Distributed System Platform market design and platform technology issues as well as recommendations to the Commission to facilitate and near and mid-term implementation of the Distributed System Platform (DSP) market. The MDPT Working Group has published a draft report.

The report assumes a staged, sequential development of the DSP market, including improvements to distribution system planning, market operations, grid operations and data access.

"A fundamental assumption of the MDPT group was that the DSP market structure, products and the DSP involvement and support of such markets should complement and not replicate the existing markets of the New York Independent System Operator. The report recommends that market participants should continue to have the ability to interact directly with New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) programs. The foundational responsibility of the DSP should be to proactively manage and optimize distribution planning, grid operations, and DER markets at the distribution level – primarily for the purpose of cost effectively maintaining a safe and reliable system.

Accordingly, the overarching DSP mission recommended for the first five years of market development (“Stage 1”), is to effectively procure DERs, using market means to the maximum extent appropriate, to directly address distribution system operational needs, and to avoid or defer the need for future distribution system capacity additions. While the electric utility hosting the DSP function will continue in its role as a retail energy service provider and provider of last resort (POLR) for all utility customers, the specific DSP functions as envisioned in this report do not include the purchase of energy for resell from DER providers. However, the report does call for the DSP to begin investing in platform technologies to enable the functions and capabilities needed to support the continued and accelerated growth of DER markets."

Informal comments on the report are due July 31, 2015. A final report will be issued August 17, 2015. Formal comments on the report recommendations may be filed in connection with Staff's DSIP Guidance filing to be made by September 8, 2015. The full text of the MDPT Working Group Report is available on the NEM Website.