Maryland SOS Auction Sees Material Increase in Bidder Participation

Maryland's April SOS auction, for a portion of residential and Type I supplies for the period beginning October 1, 2015, and Type II supplies for the quarter beginning June 1, 2015, saw a material increase in bidder participation, the PSC's bid monitor reported.

In the April 2015 procurement, there were a total of eight bidders who submitted bids for one or more of the 10 products available. This is three more than the number of bidders during the October 2014 procurement, the last SOS procurement with similar product types available.

Of the eight bidders in April 2015, five offered Residential and Type I supply compared to only two in October 2014.

For the entire April 2015 RFP there were approximately 3.3 MW bid for every MW needed. For the Residential and Type I products alone the number was 2.6 to 1.

These metrics are "much better" than the October 2014 RFP, which saw 1.8 MW bid for every block needed overall, and 1.2 MW bid for every MW needed for the Residential and Type I products alone, the bid monitor said.

"These numbers are more in line with last April when we received 3.0 MW bid to solicited for all products and 2.6 MW bid to solicited for Residential and Type 1 products," the bid monitor said.

"Participation in the October [2014] RFP was affected by PJM’s proposed capacity market reforms, which would have the effect of retroactively changing previously established prices for capacity, prices that bidders use to create their offers in this process. PJM’s proposal has been filed at FERC but it has yet to be approved. The levels of competition observed here – stronger than last October but not as strong as in years past – suggest that bidders are becoming more comfortable with the risks posed by PJM’s proposal, albeit slowly. Bidders will likely not return in full force until the effects of PJM’s reforms are finalized," the bid monitor said.

The April 2015 procurement saw six winners, which is two more than the October 2014 procurement.

All average winning prices from the April 2015 procurement came in below the Price Anomaly Threshold.