PJM's Three-Way Proposal
A re-defined capacity product, revised parameters for generator performance, and a new role for demand response.
The proposal creates a new capacity product called the “Capacity Performance Resource.”
ETRM & Markets
Playing Safe with Capacity Markets
PJM would minimize risk, but so did regulation.
Changes envisioned by PJM call for ever more structured markets, further reducing the scope of the competitive landscape from which RTOs arose. They may produce a system that is actually more costly and less innovative than regulation.
Curing the Death Spiral
Seeking a rate design that recovers costs fairly from customers with rooftop solar.
Load research data shows how utilities can levy a demand charge to recover costs fairly from residential customers with rooftop solar.
From ISO to DSO
Imagining a new construct – an independent system operator for the distribution network.
A new utility industry construct – the Distribution System Operator (DSO) – could help maximize the benefits of distributed energy resources.
Waiting for the Next Polar Vortex
How recent events could prove a harbinger of winters to come.
The winter of 2013-14 offered up a perfect storm of natural gas price spikes and threats to electric reliability. Expect more of the same.
Taking Digital to Scale
Eight key ‘plays’ to alter how work is managed and performed.
Adopting digital capabilities to transform operations and processes holds immense promise for utilities. Indeed, it’s the best path to growth.
The Powhatan Matter
Market manipulation versus the right to make a profit.
Harvard professor Bill Hogan claims FERC is wrong to find market manipulation where traders simply make profits on market defects known to all.
Performance is What Counts
ISO New England’s capacity market proposal will bring reliability benefits to the region.
ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie rebuts implications in a Fortnightly column about the ISO’s “Pay for Performance” capacity market proposal.
Unwinding the Death Spiral
Rooftop solar, net metering, and the perils of utilityspeak.
The Sierra Club accuses utilities of trying to snuff out rooftop solar. Attorney Donald Sipe recommends RTO/ISO markets for natural gas.
Next-Gen Nuclear
Tomorrow’s options for low-carbon baseload generation.
The nuclear renaissance might be postponed, but technologies continue advancing. The next generation of plants will apply innovation for safety, efficiency, and modularity.