Illinois Power Agency to Hold Workshop on Full Requirements Contracts for Default Service

The Illinois Power Agency, which is charged with procuring default electric service, will hold a workshop on June 5 on issues related to the potential use of full requirements contracts for default service.

The workshop is the first in a series of workshops to discuss items related to the development of its 2015 default service procurement plan.

The Illinois Commerce Commission had previously directed the IPA, "to include a more thorough and accurate analysis of the impacts of incorporating full requirements products into its procurement strategy, including the balance of benefits-to-premium costs of those products and any significant implementation costs it believes will result from this shift in procurement strategy."

To date, IPA procurements have been for energy blocks.

The specific topics that the IPA proposes to discuss include:

1. Defining the parameters of full requirements products as they could apply to the Illinois market

2. How full requirements products could intersect with the existing IPA portfolio

3. Defining common metrics for evaluating the cost premium for full requirements products

4. Defining common metrics for evaluating the benefits of full requirements products

5. Other procurement approaches that could alter the cost/benefit balance of the traditional IPA risk management approach