Market Monitor Blog
Your home for commercial electricity and natural gas market news—covering market factors like supply, demand, regulatory affairs, weather, and more.
MISO Needs To Fix Capacity Market To Maintain Reliability
MISO needs to fix its power market to encourage generating companies to invest in new plants to help keep the system reliable, according to the grid’s market monitor. Economic signals in the ISO “would not support private investment in new resources,” Potomac Economics, said in its 2012 state of the… Read more
FERC Accepts NYISO’s Emergency DR Pricing Plan
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted a proposal by NYISO to better reflect scarcity conditions when emergency demand response is called on to resolve a localized reserve shortage. The ISO’s markets already had scarcity pricing when reserves go below requirements in the entire footprint or… Read more
Independent Market Monitor: MISO Reserve Margins Lower Than Most Think
After adjusting MISO’s reserve margin for this summer to account for more “realistic” assumptions, the ISO has a significantly lower planning reserve margin than most people think, its independent market monitor said. Potomac Economics President David Patton said the ISO this summer reports a 28.1 percent… Read more
ISO-NE Asks FERC For More Changes To Manage Gas-Electricity Coordination
ISO-New England submitted another package of rule changes to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to address natural gas-electric coordination issues. The primary change stemmed from concerns over the adequacy of gas supply when it is needed by generation and end-use customers, and from the ISO’s… Read more
PJM Seeks Additional Resources To Restart Grid If Power Lost
PJM has launched a broad initiative to ensure the best mix of resources to restart the grid in the unlikely event that power was lost across the entire system. Restoring the system would require generators that can start up without an outside source of power and deliver electricity to the grid – known… Read more
Brattle: Operating-Reserves Demand Curve Could Increase ERCOT Reserve Margins
An operating-reserves demand curve (ORDC) could grow ERCOT’s reserve margin by 1 percent to 4 percent if the amount of reserves in the system were pushed up to 2,300 MWs, the Brattle Group said. Brattle believes the reserve margin will hit about 9.2 percent without putting the ORDC in place and letting… Read more
ERCOT Wholesale Market Was Competitive Last Year, Monitor Reports
The ERCOT wholesale market performed competitively last year, its independent market monitor, Potomac Economics, wrote in its annual state-of-the-market report. Prices were almost cut in half from the highs caused by wild weather in 2011, as the load-weighted average locational marginal pricing was just… Read more
5 New England States To Study Bringing More Hydroelectricity Into Region
Five of the six New England states are going to study the best way to bring more large-scale hydroelectricity into the region, they said. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont launched the regional initiative, in which the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE) will… Read more
Texas Governor Signs Bills On Combined Heat And Power, Financing For C&I Initiatives
Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed two energy packages into law, one supporting combined heat and power (CHP) and the other allowing Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. Perry signed two CHP bills: The first clarified language in the Texas Utility Code to let cogeneration facilities sell power… Read more
Report Identifies Value Of Lost Load In ERCOT
ERCOT might have the highest price cap in the country, but even the $9,000/MWh cap that will hit in 2015 is not based on the “value of lost load” (VOLL), said a report from London Economics. The only economic rationale for setting a price cap that high is that it is costly when the power goes out – so,… Read more