The “Utility Perspective:” Not All Megawatts Are Created Equal
Date Published: March 2017
Authors: Jay Morrison, Paul Breakman, Allison Clements, Lisa Schwartz
Eastern RTOs should restore the mandatory capacity markets as residual markets that supplement and do not override the judgments made by utilities, their regulators and consumers. In those parts of the country with high penetrations of variable generation, organized markets need to develop new ancillary services to ensure they have access to the essential reliability services they need to manage the system reliably. It is also important that market design changes made to compensate these new services should be carefully targeted to those who provide the needed value. Long-term bilateral contracts and retail consumer relationships should be respected and not interfered with by grid operators.