Capacity Clearing Price For 2023-24 Term In ISO New England Is Lowest In FCA History

ISO New England's 14th Forward Capacity Market (FCM) primary auction (FCA #14), for the delivery year 2023-2024, closed at a preliminary clearing price of $2.00 per kilowatt-month (kW-month) across New England, compared to $3.80/kW-month in last year’s auction.

Resources within New England’s four capacity zones, as well as imports over all of the external ties, closed at the $2.00 per kilowatt-month price for the delivery year 2023-2024

At the primary auction clearing price of $2.00/kW-month, the total value of the capacity market in 2023-2024 will be approximately $980 million (preliminary estimate), ISO-NE said

Previous clearing prices were as follows (all per kilowatt-month): FCA #7 (2013), $3.15 floor price, except $14.99 for new resources in the former Northeast Massachusetts/Boston zone; FCA #8 (2014), $15 for new and $7.025 for existing resources; FCA #9 (2015), $9.55 system-wide except SEMA/RI: $17.73 new and $11.08 existing; FCA #10 (2016), $7.03; FCA #11 (2017), $5.30; FCA #12 (2018), $4.63; FCA #13, $3.80.

The primary auction concluded with commitments from 33,956 MW to be available in 2023-2024, with 1,466 MW of excess supply over the net installed capacity requirement of 32,490 MW

The ISO said that 317 MW of new resources received their obligations under the renewable technology resource (RTR) designation. The RTR designation allows a limited amount of renewable resources to participate in the auction without being subject to the minimum offer-price rule. Resources receiving an obligation under the exemption included land-based and offshore wind, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and solar PV systems paired with batteries. Approximately 19 MW remain under the exemption for next year’s capacity auction, which will be the last to include the RTR exemption.

The ISO said that, "Prior to the auction, ISO New England retained two units, Mystic 8 and 9, needed for fuel security in the 2023-2024 capacity year."