ISO Capacity Markets
FERC Order 2222 created the opportunity. Your program needs the infrastructure.
ISO capacity markets offer substantial revenue for community solar operators who can qualify their DER portfolio as an ISO-recognized capacity resource. Nexwatt provides the technical pathway.
The markets Nexwatt supports
PJM
Basic Residual Auction (BRA) and Reliability Pricing Model. Largest capacity market in North America covering 13 states and DC.
Key requirements: ICAP qualification, metering accuracy, dispatch telemetry
ISO-NE
Forward Capacity Market (FCM). New England's annual capacity auction with strict DER aggregation telemetry requirements.
Key requirements: DER aggregation registration, real-time telemetry, dispatch testing
NYISO
Installed Capacity (ICAP) market. New York's capacity market with specific DER aggregation tariff provisions post-FERC 2222.
Key requirements: ICAP qualification, DRIS registration, telemetry compliance
FERC Order 2222: What it means for your program
Issued in September 2020, FERC Order 2222 requires all organized wholesale electricity markets — including PJM, ISO-NE, NYISO, MISO, CAISO, and SPP — to allow distributed energy resource aggregations to participate directly in capacity, energy, and ancillary service markets. This was a landmark ruling that opened the door for community solar programs to compete alongside traditional generation for capacity market revenue.
The critical detail: Order 2222 required ISOs to file compliance tariffs, but each ISO sets its own aggregation rules — minimum size thresholds, telemetry standards, dispatch capability requirements, and registration procedures. PJM filed its compliance tariff in 2023. ISO-NE and NYISO have each filed with materially different requirements.
For a community solar program operator, navigating three different ISO compliance frameworks — each with its own telemetry format, documentation requirements, and dispatch testing procedures — is the central technical challenge. That complexity is precisely what Nexwatt was built to abstract.
ISO capacity qualification: the required steps
Nexwatt manages steps 1 through 4 on behalf of program operators — handling the documentation, testing coordination, and ISO correspondence that typically takes 4–6 weeks of internal staff time.
See the full enrollment timelineGet your program on the ISO capacity enrollment path.
Our market operations team has worked through the PJM, ISO-NE, and NYISO enrollment processes. We can tell you exactly what your program needs to qualify.
Talk to Our Market Operations Team