Boom: Huge Increase in Capacity Costs Set For Retail Suppliers At Ameren

The Midcontinent ISO capacity auction for the 2015-16 compliance year resulted in a Zone 4 (Illinois, including Ameren) clearing price of $150.00/MW-day.

That's nearly 10 times higher than the current price of $16.75/MW-day.

Note that for 2015, the Illinois Power Agency is exclusively relying on the MISO capacity market for capacity for Ameren default service customers

However, beginning with the 2016-17 delivery year, the IPA will again engage in bilateral capacity procurements outside of the auction for Ameren, meaning future similar volatile increases in the capacity auction prices could result in a challenging headroom environment for retail suppliers, as Ameren's default service cost of capacity diverges from what retail suppliers generally pay.

Dynegy reported that its IPH segment cleared 1,864 megawatts (MW) at $150/MW-day, including 1,709 MW that are estimated to cover retail load obligations. Dynegy's coal segment cleared 398 MW in the auction, also at that price.