American Public Power Association

Chasing the Uncatchable

Why trying to fix mandatory capacity markets is like trying to win a game of Whack-A-Mole (Parts I & II)

FERC has little to show for more than a decade of tinkering with mandatory capacity markets.

FERC Chasing the Uncatchable

Trying to fix mandatory capacity markets like trying to win whack-a-mole, Part I

FERC’s efforts to get capacity markets “right” have led to endless – and futile – tinkering. The cure proposed – making capacity auction markets mandatory – has unfortunately proved far worse than the disease.

Tranche Warfare

The experts do battle over capacity market design.

A FERC conference this fall aired new major policy options for capacity markets. Amid the battle, ISOs are making tactical adjustments.

Bill Hogan, Unbundled

A candid commentary on current topics in electric restructuring.

A no-holds-barred interview with the electric industry’s chief architect of wholesale electric market design.

Federal Feud

The jurisdictional battle rages on, with FERC and EPA squaring off against the states.

When Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an attack on the federal Springfield Armory in January 1787—the spark that ignited the federalist movement—he scarcely could’ve guessed that now, 225 years later, his spiritual descendants would still be fighting that very same battle.

Solar Screen Test

Making room on the local grid for small-scale PV.

For the first time, perhaps, the electric utility industry may need to keep track not only of peak load, but also of minimum load, as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews a proposal by the Solar Energy Industries Association to employ a new definition of minimum load under a new, relaxed threshold test that would govern eligibility for fast-tracking of applications by generation developers to interconnect new, small-scale solar energy projects to the local utility distribution grid.

Killing the Goose

Second thoughts on transmission’s golden egg.

The electric utility industry offers up a wealth of ideas on how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission might reform its policy, adopted under FERC Order 679 in 2006, of granting financial incentives for investments in transmission line projects that ensure reliability or mitigate line congestion so as to reduce the cost of delivered power. Fortnightly’s Bruce W. Radford reports.

FERC's Full Plate

A look at issues facing the commission for the coming year.

Price-Responsive demand, EPA regulations, and merger policy will be on the agenda for the coming year as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission works its way through the list of key cases that were pending at FERC as of January 2011.

Transmission Rate Incentives

In an October order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) trimmed the authorized rate incentive for the RITELine transmission project by one-third. The action prompted Commissioner Moeller to ask whether the commission is retreating from its incentive policy on needed transmission lines.

FERC’s move might appear calculated to send a message to the power industry.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in mid-October granted a trimmed-down set of rate incentives for the proposed $1.6 billion RITELine transmission line project.