Market Monitor Blog
Your home for commercial electricity and natural gas market news—covering market factors like supply, demand, regulatory affairs, weather, and more.
Operating Reserves Demand Curve Options Seen Boosting ERCOT Resource Adequacy
Additional options for setting parameters of an operating reserves demand curve (ORDC) in ERCOT would enhance resource adequacy, even at a lower minimum contingency level, according to an analysis by the Brattle Group. An earlier analysis had found that an ORDC with a minimum contingency level of 2,300… Read more
NYISO Handles Major Heat Wave; Competitive Market Credited For Performance
NYISO broke a peak demand record during last week’s heat wave, with average load hitting 33,955 MWs on Friday to beat the previous nark of 33,939 MW set in August 2006. Throughout the week, the grid operator reported, unprecedented levels of generator availability were experienced, and every bulk-power-producing… Read more
ERCOT Board Delays Decision On Raising Target Reserve Margin
The ERCOT Board of Directors deferred until September a decision to increase the target reserve margin to 16.1 percent from the current 13.75 percent. ERCOT Board Chair Craven Crowell said the planning reserve margin, as well as the load-carrying capability of wind – which is also being reviewed – are… Read more
MISO Needs To Fix Capacity Market To Maintain Reliability
MISO needs to fix its power market to encourage generating companies to invest in new plants to help keep the system reliable, according to the grid’s market monitor. Economic signals in the ISO “would not support private investment in new resources,” Potomac Economics, said in its 2012 state of the… Read more
FERC Accepts NYISO’s Emergency DR Pricing Plan
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted a proposal by NYISO to better reflect scarcity conditions when emergency demand response is called on to resolve a localized reserve shortage. The ISO’s markets already had scarcity pricing when reserves go below requirements in the entire footprint or… Read more
Independent Market Monitor: MISO Reserve Margins Lower Than Most Think
After adjusting MISO’s reserve margin for this summer to account for more “realistic” assumptions, the ISO has a significantly lower planning reserve margin than most people think, its independent market monitor said. Potomac Economics President David Patton said the ISO this summer reports a 28.1 percent… Read more
ISO-NE Asks FERC For More Changes To Manage Gas-Electricity Coordination
ISO-New England submitted another package of rule changes to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to address natural gas-electric coordination issues. The primary change stemmed from concerns over the adequacy of gas supply when it is needed by generation and end-use customers, and from the ISO’s… Read more
PJM Seeks Additional Resources To Restart Grid If Power Lost
PJM has launched a broad initiative to ensure the best mix of resources to restart the grid in the unlikely event that power was lost across the entire system. Restoring the system would require generators that can start up without an outside source of power and deliver electricity to the grid – known… Read more
Brattle: Operating-Reserves Demand Curve Could Increase ERCOT Reserve Margins
An operating-reserves demand curve (ORDC) could grow ERCOT’s reserve margin by 1 percent to 4 percent if the amount of reserves in the system were pushed up to 2,300 MWs, the Brattle Group said. Brattle believes the reserve margin will hit about 9.2 percent without putting the ORDC in place and letting… Read more
ERCOT Wholesale Market Was Competitive Last Year, Monitor Reports
The ERCOT wholesale market performed competitively last year, its independent market monitor, Potomac Economics, wrote in its annual state-of-the-market report. Prices were almost cut in half from the highs caused by wild weather in 2011, as the load-weighted average locational marginal pricing was just… Read more