July 15, 2013
The Case for a Texas Capacity Market
Consider the following excerpts from an op-ed in favor of a Texas capacity market:
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July 12, 2013
Capacity Markets: Encouraging Gold-Plating of the Electric System
Centralized capacity markets -- specifically those with a downward sloping demand curve -- are reintroducing into the electric industry one of the main catalysts of deregulation -- the gold-plating of the electric system.
July 10, 2013
AEP Ohio Seeking to Institute Charge for Consolidated Billing, Suppliers Protest Additional Changes to Tariff
Retail suppliers have protested numerous changes sought by AEP Ohio to its supplier coordination tariff, governing the utility's interaction with competitive suppliers.
July 9, 2013
FirstEnergy to Deactivate Two Coal-Fired Power Plants in Pennsylvania
FirstEnergy Corp. announced today that it expects to deactivate two coal-fired power plants located in Pennsylvania by October 9, 2013.
July 3, 2013
Use of Incendiary Language in Pro-Capacity Market Op-Ed by NRG Leaves Open Flank to Attack Retail Choice
The use of incendiary language in a recent op-ed by NRG Energy in favor of a capacity market in Texas begs the question, that if we can't trust the market to assure resource adequacy, what else should we not "bet" on?
July 2, 2013
New Math: Capacity Market No Longer Designed to Clear at Lowest Cost!
If tariff revisions are approved at FERC, ISO New England's forward capacity market will no longer be designed to clear the market to minimize total costs.
July 1, 2013
Reality Check: ISO With Capacity Market Forced to Rely on "Out of Market" Solutions for Reliability
ISO New England, which requires load to pay capacity to meet a mandated reserve margin, has filed at FERC "out-of-market solutions" to meet looming reliability risks due to non-performance of resources receiving capacity payments.
June 28, 2013
SHOCK: Texas Official Muses that Generators May Be Intentionally Underbidding to Keep Prices Down [to Manufacture Crisis?]
The continued lack of scarcity pricing in ERCOT, despite a host of pricing reforms and grid conditions which support scarcity, prompted Kenneth Anderson, Public Utility Commissioner of Texas, to muse whether generators were intentionally underbidding.
June 25, 2013
Forbes Calls a Texas Capacity Market What It Is -- "More Regulation"
Credit to Christopher Helman of Forbes for calling a capacity what it is in a recent story on the Texas debate -- "a little more regulation."
June 24, 2013
Capacity Markets, The Reality: Paying for Resources That Don't Respond When Needed
A recent filing by ISO New England at FERC should give Texas regulators pause in consideration of a capacity market because the filing details how, despite paying billions of dollars for capacity, resources receiving capacity payments don't respond when needed, leaving customers to ask what exactly…
June 21, 2013
Capacity Markets: Efficient As Buying a 40-Year Clunker
The ERCOT Independent Market Monitor has released the 2012 State of the Market Report, and the report spends considerable time defending capacity markets as "efficient."
June 19, 2013
Maine PUC Sets New Standard Offer Rates
The Maine PUC has set Standard Offer prices for large non-residential customers at Central Maine Power and Bangor-Hydro Electric for July 2013.
June 18, 2013
Texas Wants to Copy This? FERC to Hold Technical Conference on Capacity Markets
Listening to capacity market advocates in Texas, you'd expect that the centralized capacity markets in the eastern RTOs are "settled" market designs, which can easily be taken "off the shelf" and quickly applied to ERCOT, with little controversy or administrative bureaucracy.
June 18, 2013
Capacity Markets Again Harming Retail Choice: New England States Seeking to Buy Large Hydro due to Frustration With Wholesale Market
Five New England states have announced a regional initiative to import low-cost, large-scale hydro power from Canada to, among other reasons, bring "cheaper power options" to customers.
June 13, 2013
Crux of NRG Op-Ed: Investors Lost Their Shirt on Last Generation Build-Out, So Now They Need Subsidies (NRG Wants Free Bet at the Table)
Because investors "lost big" on the last competitive generation build-out, Texas ratepayers must now subsidize generation in order for it to get built -- that's the essence of what John Ragan, President of NRG Energy's Gulf Coast Region, said in a June 11 op-ed in favor of a Texas capacity market…
June 12, 2013
Exelon Cancels Capacity Additions in PJM Market
Exelon Corporation has decided, based on market conditions, to cancel the previously deferred extended power uprate projects at the LaSalle and Limerick nuclear stations, it said in an 8-K.
June 7, 2013
Briefly
Retail Energy Supply Association Announces New Member
June 5, 2013
Direct Energy Business Unveils Service Alerting Customers to Likely 5CP Days in PJM Region
Direct Energy Business is now offering an email alert service in the PJM region as part of a new pilot program for 2013.
June 3, 2013
FERC Reduces Number of Local Capacity Zones in ISO New England Capacity Market
FERC has approved ISO New England's filing to model four zones in the Forward Capacity Auction for the 2017-18 delivery year, rather than the eight zones previously ordered, due to transmission upgrades alleviating constraints.
June 3, 2013
FERC Approves Settlement Concerning Flipping by Local Utility With Gas Choice Program, Also OKs $725,000 Settlement With Affiliate Concerning Misclassification of Contracts
FERC approved a settlement agreement with DTE Gas Company (formerly Michigan Consolidated Gas Company) resolving an investigation into whether DTE Gas violated section 284.8(h)(2) of the Commission's regulations by engaging in flipping transactions.
May 31, 2013
Maryland Orders Reduced Compensation for Demand Response Provider Over Life of Gap RFP Contracts
In an order on one of the failures of a curtailment service provider to meet its full obligations under one year of the Gap RFP demand response capacity contracts, the Maryland PSC has ruled that reduced compensation reflecting the failure to deliver shall occur over the life of the contract, rather…
May 31, 2013
Unbelievable: Desperate Texas Capacity Market Supporters Claim Rational Investors Won't Build on Potential Future Energy Market Revenues; But Apparently Are Investing Based on Speculation, Hope of "Reform"
Desperate to maintain their narrative of a Texas capacity crisis, supporters of a mandatory capacity market in Texas have said that new generation being built in ERCOT, which has resulted in a 2014 reserve margin above the target, should be ignored, but if not, such investment should be seen as…
May 29, 2013
FERC Sets Technical Conference for Its Intrusion into California Resource Adequacy Policy
FERC has scheduled a technical conference regarding its intrusion into California's resource adequacy policy debate
May 29, 2013
Calif. Draft Would Impose Flexible Capacity Requirement on Retail Suppliers, But Not for 2014
A proposed decision from a California ALJ would impose a flexible capacity requirement on load serving entities, including retail suppliers, as part of the current bilateral resource adequacy (RA) framework, but would not institute the requirement for the 2014 RA year.
May 28, 2013
Demand Response Provider to Pay $80,000 Under Maryland Settlement
Comverge, Inc., the Staff of the Public Service Commission of Maryland, the Office of People's Counsel, and the Potomac Electric Power Company have entered into a settlement to resolve a dispute concerning Comverge's performance under the "Gap RFP" contract awarded to the company by the Maryland PSC…