Residential Thermostatically Controlled Load (TCLs) such as Air Conditioners (ACs), heat pumps, water heaters, and refrigerators have an enormous thermal storage potential for providing regulation reserve to the grid. In this paper, we study the potential resource and economic analysis of TCLs providing frequency regulation service. In particular, we show that the potential resource of TCLs in California is more than enough for both current and predicted near-future regulation requirements for the California power system. Moreover, we estimate the cost and revenue of TCLs, discuss the qualification requirements, recommended policy changes, and participation incentive methods, and compare TCLs with other energy storage technologies. We show that TCLs are potentially more cost-effective than other energy storage technologies such as flywheels, Li-ion, advanced lead acid, and Zinc Bromide batteries. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.