January 20, 2014
ERCOT: Demand Increased Only 1% in 2013
Peak demand in ERCOT increased only 1% in 2013, ERCOT confirmed in its recently released Demand and Energy Report.
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January 17, 2014
FERC Accepts Settlement to Allow Limited Self-Supply of Capacity at AEP Utility for Retail Providers, Also Sets Rates
FERC has accepted a settlement which sets rates for wholesale capacity that Appalachian Power Company makes available to electric competitive service providers (CSPs) in APCo's Virginia service territory, and which also provides for a limited amount of self-supplied capacity by CSPs.
January 15, 2014
Report: Percent of PJM Forced Outages During Cold Snap Grid Stress Four Times That of ERCOT
A white paper by ICF International regarding recent grid emergency conditions prompted by the polar vortex notes that forced outages in PJM as a percentage of generation were four times higher than forced outages in ERCOT.
January 14, 2014
ERCOT Receives Notification of Suspension of Operations
ERCOT received a Notification of Suspension of Operations (NSO) for the following Generation Resource:
January 14, 2014
NRG's David Crane Envisions Energy Future of "Choice," "Self-Determination"; Yet Company Favors Top-Down Capacity Mandates from Gov't
Freedom of Choice. Self-Empowerment. Self-Determination.
January 13, 2014
Maine Defers Consideration of Long-Term Contract for New Gas-Fired Generation
The Maine PUC issued an order deferring consideration of a proposed long-term contract with the utilities for the construction of a new natural gas-fired electric generating facility.
January 10, 2014
Next Texas Resource Adequacy Open Meeting/Workshop Pushed to March
Texas Public Utility Commissioners yesterday indicated that the next resource adequacy open meeting/workshop, originally contemplated for late January and then February, will now likely be held in late March.
January 9, 2014
SHOCK: Excessive Capacity Market Costs to PJM Customers from Load Forecasting Errors Alone Equal $5 Billion in Single Year, $25 Billion Since 2008/09
The over-forecasting of demand in PJM's capacity market has resulted in an implied consumer cost of $5 billion for the 2013/2014 Delivery Year alone, the PJM Industrial Customer Coalition said in comments to FERC.
January 8, 2014
Retail Supplier: "Market Conditions" in New England Have "Limit[ed]" Ability to Serve Customers with Stable Rate (But Capacity Markets Supposed to be Less "Volatile")
Market conditions in ISO New England limited a retail supplier's, "ability to meet our goal to provide you with a stable competitive electricity price," Easy Energy of Massachusetts said in a notice on its website concerning its withdrawal from the retail electric market.
January 7, 2014
Capacity-Market Dependent PJM Issues "Third World" Plea for Electric Conservation
It's well-established that the ERCOT energy-only market, since the introduction of retail choice, has never been forced to shed firm load due to a lack of installed capacity compared to the reserve margin (with the two rotating outage events occurring at times ERCOT has had installed capacity in…
January 6, 2014
ERCOT: Energy Emergency Alert in Progress, Rotating Outages Not Expected
With cold temperatures and high electric use this morning, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has announced an Energy Emergency Alert and has implemented the first two stages of its steps to protect the grid.
January 6, 2014
Texas Oil & Gas Producers Criticize Skeletal Nature of Capacity Market Proposals; Point to Prolonged Nodal Implementation As Indicative of Pitfalls
The Texas Oil and Gas Association, "has seen increasing evidence that centralized forward capacity markets do not work as intended and never can," the group said in January 3 comments to the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
January 6, 2014
Retail Supplier "Making Efforts" to "Recover" Customers Dropped to Default Service due to Default
People's Power & Gas, LLC informed the Connecticut PURA that with its default at ISO New England cured, People's Power & Gas, "plans to continue serving retail customers in Connecticut," and is, "currently making efforts to work with the utilities and regulators in Connecticut and other states to…
December 31, 2013
Retail Supplier Cures Default
People's Power and Gas has cured its default at ISO New England.
December 30, 2013
New England, With Capacity Market, Seeing More Retail Energy Suppliers Default than "Volatile" Texas Energy-Only Market
Another mythical benefit of centralized capacity markets has been discredited by recent events in ISO New England, which has now seen three retail energy suppliers default at the ISO in the past 11 months.
December 27, 2013
PJM Reports "Poor Generator Response" Led to "Operational Issues" on Day Firm Load Shed
In seeking various changes to demand response rules and requirements at FERC, PJM reported that it yet again experienced "poor generator response" during a time when the grid was stressed.
December 20, 2013
FERC Concedes Error in Allowing Provider of Last Resort to Recover Administrative Costs Via Wholesale Rate
FERC has granted rehearing concerning the cost recovery of Providers of Last Resort in the Midwest ISO capacity market, agreeing that it erred in a prior order which allowed such POLRs to recover undefined "administrative" costs.
December 19, 2013
Noble Americas Retail Provider Warns Capacity Market in Texas Will Lead to Customer Dissatisfaction with REPs, Competition
"The inability to manage the cost associated with a capacity obligation combined with the lack of demonstrative goods realized by customers in regions with such obligations should lead the Commission away from any type of capacity construct," Noble Americas Energy Solutions LLC said in comments to…
December 17, 2013
H-E-B, Shell Oppose Texas Capacity Market
A persuasive case for the adoption of an ERCOT forward capacity mechanism has not yet been made, H-E-B cautioned Texas policymakers, warning against, "changing the current market structure in ways that could have significant and likely irreversible, long-term consequences."
December 17, 2013
NRG Statement: Capacity Supplier Performance Is "Excused" due to "Gas Unavailability" (Gas Unavailability Major Cause of Most Recent Texas Blackout)
One of the refrains we keep hearing in Texas from capacity market acolytes is that Texas doesn't need to worry about the non-performance issues which have plagued the Northeast capacity markets -- in which capacity is procured but does not produce energy when needed -- because everyone agrees and…
December 17, 2013
NRG to Receive Subsidized, State-Arranged Contract to Repower New York Capacity
Even as NRG Energy leads Texas down a path to a capacity market, it is about to enjoy the fruits of a state-arranged, ratepayer-backed "subsidized" contract to repower one of its New York power plants (aside: New York has a capacity market and according to capacity market supporters, should have no…
December 17, 2013
Latest Six-Year Fixed Product from FirstEnergy Solutions Reinforces How Capacity Market Skews Playing Field in Retail Market
As the latest round of comments concerning capacity markets roll into the Public Utility Commission of Texas, it's serendipitous that FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) announced on the same day the expansion of its ultra-long-term fixed priced offer to the PECO service area, because it's an example of the…
December 13, 2013
Noting "Major" Software Projects to Start in 2014, ERCOT Reports Full Co-optimization Would Take Over Three Years to Implement
ERCOT and the Independent Market Monitor have filed a report with the Public Utility Commission of Texas concerning Real-Time Co-optimization of Energy and Ancillary Services in the ERCOT Markets
December 10, 2013
Anderson Staff Analysis: CRA/NRG Study on Capacity Market "Savings" Filled with Errors, Omissions and Incorrect Assumptions
An analysis prepared for Texas Public Utility Commissioner Kenneth Anderson concludes that a study by Charles Rivers Associates commissioned by NRG Energy, which purports to show savings to gross state product from adopting a capacity market, contains numerous "errors in assumptions and calculations…
December 9, 2013
N.Y. Assemblyman to Introduce Bill to "Re-regulate" Price of Electricity
In an op-ed published by CityLimits.org , New York Assemblyman James Brennan said that the "clear answer" to excessive profits made by unregulated power generators under the New York market design is to "re-regulate the price of electricity."