ISO-NE Asks FERC For More Changes To Manage Gas-Electricity Coordination
July 03, 2013
ISO-New England submitted another package of rule changes to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to address natural gas-electric coordination issues. The primary change stemmed from concerns over the adequacy of gas supply when it is needed by generation and end-use customers, and from the ISO’s analysis of some generators’ poor performance when the system is stressed. Under the current market structure, bidders finalize and submit offers for the day-ahead market by 10 a.m. on the prior day; after it clears and the results are posted, participants can change their offers from 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. The real-time market lacks any such re-offer period. The new rule would let market participants change the cost-related parameters of their offers up until 30 minutes before the hour in which the offer would apply. Generators would be able to change the energy blocks, start-up fee, no-load fee, fuel type and the regulation supply offer price and quantity, while dispatchable demand resources would be able to change the energy blocks of their bids. Letting real-time offers change would allow market participants to tweak their bids should their fuel costs change from when they were first made. The entire market would benefit by reflecting more accurate fuel or other operating costs in the energy price, and dispatch would become more efficient. Additionally under current rules, bidders cannot go below $0/MWH; under the proposal, however, generators would be able to offer at prices as low as negative $150/MWH. The new offer floor would benefit resources that can run economically at very low prices.