RTOs and ISOs have expanded their footprints over the last two decades and now serve two-thirds of electric consumers in the United States and more than half of those in Canada. But the scale economies that have fueled this growth face challenges from distributed energy resources at the same time as their wholesale markets are being stressed by generation subsidies and the Clean Power Plan. The CEOs of ISO-NE and NYISO will discuss these challenges along with a former FERC and state commissioner now advising utilities and investors.
Eliminating Market and Operational Barriers to New Technologies — As the one-way electric grid evolves into an intelligent two-way platform, RTOs and other policy makers will face challenges in incorporating these changes into existing regulatory and market frameworks. RTOs have proven they can accommodate variable wind and solar generation with better forecasts, new technologies, ample transmission and flexible firming generation. Electric storage and other distributed energy resources are posing new challenges, from how they should be defined to how they should be compensated. How are RTOs and utilities preparing? Does the recently-released NY REV 2 order provide some guidance for the path forward?
Challenges to the RTO/ISO Model — Wholesale markets have shown they can cultivate the growth of clean power (e.g., RGGI), and capacity markets have managed market entry and exit while meeting adequacy requirements. Still, some question whether the markets are sending appropriate price signals to promote the construction of new generation and retention of existing resources, prompting calls for subsidies that a recent PJM analysis said could disrupt market fundamentals. MISO is currently wrestling with whether to change its capacity auction in competitive retail region in southern Illinois. Meanwhile, the recently-passed Senate energy bill could put pressure on regions to tighten capacity rules, as PJM and ISO-NE have done, in a way that could discourage demand response and renewable generation. And even after the Supreme Court’s EPSA and CPV rulings, it’s only a matter of time before the next legal challenge over state-federal jurisdiction as the energy landscape evolves to incorporate new technologies and networked operations.
RTO Insider and EnerKnol have teamed up to integrate on-the-ground coverage of the organized electric markets with real-time electronic access to the policies and filings that drive them. Join the conversation as we launch our integrated SaaS Platform and investigate these and other issues shared by ISOs/RTOs and members of industry.
