Why BESS Owners Need Monitoring and Compliance Support

Bridging the Gap Between LTSA Availability and Real Operational Risk

Battery Energy Storage Systems have become essential to California’s grid reliability and renewable integration strategy. Yet, as storage assets expand, so do the risks that threaten safety, uptime, and regulatory compliance.

Under the new CPUC General Order 167-C, both asset owners and Long-Term Service Agreement (LTSA) holders are now expected to prove that systems are being operated safely, maintained proactively, and monitored continuously. The challenge is that contractual availability metrics defined in most LTSAs do not fully capture the real operational risks that owners face in day-to-day performance—especially those tied to fire, thermal runaway, and electrical faults.

Understanding the Gap Between LTSA Availability and Real Risk

LTSA frameworks typically focus on availability percentages and response time metrics. These contractual indicators show whether a system is “up” or “down,” but they often overlook sub-performance conditions that can evolve into major safety or compliance events.

A BESS unit may appear fully available on paper while silently accumulating risks such as:

• Gradual cell voltage imbalance that leads to overheating

• Cooling system degradation that goes unnoticed until HVAC failure

• CAN-bus communication loss that disables protective functions

• Smoke, gas, or fire alarms that trigger short-term shutdowns but are not captured as “availability losses” under the LTSA

  
  

This gap between contractual availability and operational health leaves owners exposed. A single thermal event can erase the benefits of months of perfect availability and invite regulatory scrutiny, insurance claims, and potential penalties under GO 167-C.

The Compliance Risks Owners and LTSA Partners Must Manage

Incomplete Safety and Performance Data

General Order 167-C requires operators to maintain comprehensive data sets for capacity, safety, and reliability. Fragmented vendor systems and manual logs cannot meet this expectation. Missing or inconsistent records during a CPUC audit can result in findings or fines.

Thermal and Fire Hazards

Fires remain one of the most serious risks in energy storage operations. Small imbalances in voltage or temperature can escalate into thermal events within minutes. GO 167-C requires evidence of continuous safety monitoring and documented response actions. Without early detection and structured reporting, owners and LTSA holders share liability for any resulting damage.

Weak Root-Cause Documentation

Auditors now expect documented root-cause analysis for every incident that affects system performance. Without unified fault tracking across EMS, BCI, and SCADA systems, root-cause documentation is inconsistent and often incomplete

Revenue and Warranty Exposure

When faults are not classified correctly or remain unresolved, owners risk breaching performance guarantees and LTSA payment terms. Missing traceability between events and operator actions can lead to disputes during contract reviews.

Audit Readiness Gaps

CPUC auditors require daily, weekly, and annual evidence that demonstrates proactive management of degradation and safety. Without automated reporting, compliance teams lose time reconstructing event data and risk missing required documentation

AEES Closes the Gap with Data-Driven Compliance and Monitoring

Applied Energy and Environmental Solutions (AEES) provides a Storage Performance and Compliance Monitoring Service that bridges the divide between contractual metrics and real-world operational risk.Using Quadrical’s advanced analytics and digital-twin technology, AEES delivers a unified system for monitoring, analysis, and compliance management.

How AEES Protects BESS and LTSA Stakeholders

Continuous Real-Time Monitoring

AEES integrates inverter, battery, and SCADA data into a single intelligent dashboard. The platform tracks key performance indicators such as voltage variance, current imbalance, and temperature deviation to detect early warning signs of thermal stress or fire risk.

Automated Root-Cause Analysis

AI-based fault analysis identifies the origin of events, correlates them across subsystems, and documents the results automatically. This creates a digital evidence trail that satisfies GO 167-C and LTSA documentation standards.

Predictive Safety and Anomaly Reporting

The system produces safety reports that rank equipment by variance from expected benchmarks, allowing teams to prioritize maintenance and correct issues before they cause incidents.

Audit-Ready Dashboards

Compliance dashboards generate reports that align with CPUC and Cal/OSHA requirements. All historical data is preserved for long-term trending, benchmarking, and performance validation.

Why AEES is the Partner of Choice for Storage Compliance

AEES combines deep regulatory expertise with data analytics capabilities to help BESS owners and LTSA operators close the compliance gap. By connecting performance, safety, and audit evidence into one framework, AEES enables organizations to:

• Reduce the risk of fire and other catastrophic events

• Avoid regulatory penalties and contractual disputes

• Improve uptime and asset longevity through predictive insights

• Achieve full audit readiness with minimal administrative effort

  
  

Conclusion

The true measure of reliability is not just system availability but system safety and transparency. GO 167-C raises the bar, and AEES ensures BESS and LTSA stakeholders can meet it confidently.

Visit www.aeesconsulting.com to schedule a compliance readiness consultation.