ISO

RTOs and the Public Interest

Defining the mission when the consumer plays second-fiddle to the needs of the market.

Six months back, when ISO New England was mulling over various reforms that FERC had mandated last fall in Order 719 for the nation’s six regional transmission organizations and independent system operators (RTOs and ISOs are interchangeable terms in this column), the ISO refused point blank to include in its mission statement a proposal by stakeholders that it should operate the bulk power system at the “lowest reasonable cost.”

Carbon In Electricity Markets

Price transparency will drive GHG reductions.

In light of coming GHG legislation, price transparency is the key to achieving cleaner generation through the dispatch of lower-carbon sources.

The Smart-Enough Grid

How much efficiency do ratepayers need—and utilities want?

When the applause dies down, the smart grid may turn out to be its own worst enemy. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) explained this irony in comments it filed in May, after the FERC asked the industry for policy ideas on the smart grid.

Ontario's Failed Experiment (Part 1)

Reliability declines after 10 years of incentive regulation.

After 10 years of incentive regulation, reliability has declined in Ontario. Regulators failed to enforce service-quality standards, and consumers are suffering as a result.

Fingerprinting the Invisible Hands

Opaque markets inflate power prices.

Secrecy is the norm in electric power bidding. This lack of transparency impedes an efficient electricity market. Bringing daylight to power markets would reduce prices and save consumers money.

People (June 2009)

Dominion named Paul E. Ruppert as senior v.p.-Dominion Transmission. ITC Holdings Corp. appointed Edward M. Rahill to president of ITC Grid Development. Ameren Corp. promoted Karen Foss to senior v.p., communications and brand management, from v.p., public relations at Missouri subsidiary, AmerenUE.

NV Energy appointed Punam Mathur as v.p. of human resources.

Smart Storage

The intelligent grid cannot be achieved without energy storage.

While much has been written about the intelligent grid of late, little attention has been focused on the role of energy storage in achieving its expected benefits. Energy storage is an essential component of the intelligent grid. Energy storage provides greater grid integration of variable renewable energy resource output (e.g., wind, solar); improved system reliability via the provision of grid regulation services; and peak demand reductions and, in turn, deferred capital spending on new and upgraded transmission and distribution assets.

Renewable Reality Check

How solar PV could redraw the map for green energy and grid investment.

When Pacific Gas & Electric broke the news six weeks ago that it had signed a deal with Solaren Corp. to buy 200 MW of solar energy from satellites launched into geosynchronous orbit, the idea seemed almost laughable. Solaren’s plan is to catch unobstructed sunlight falling on arrays of photovoltaic solar panels deployed in the crystalline void of outer space, and then to convert the generated electricity into radio-frequency energy for transmission to Solaren’s ground-based receiving station outside Fresno. Welcome to the new renewable reality.

The Wind Watcher

The search for the ultimate wind forecasting model got a boost at the end of 2008 when DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory began collaborating with a Portuguese research institute, INESC Porto, to develop a new platform for making such predictions.