A Guide to FERC’s Standard Market Design Development

 

 

Table Explanation: 

§         The left hand column contains links and brief explanations of FERC’s two papers on Standard Market Design. 

1)      The first link in each row in the left column is to the specific section in FERC’s first Standard Market Design (SMD) Paper “Working Paper on Standardized Transmission Service and Wholesale Electric Market Design.” 

2)      The second link in each row in the left column, the “Options link” is to the specific section in FERC’s second paper on SMD entitled “Options for Resolving Rate and Transition Issues in Standardized Transmission Service and Wholesale Electric Market Design.” 

§         The right hand column contains one, two or three pieces of information:

1)      RTO Information on what the three Western RTO’s (RTO West, WestConnect and CAISO) have done to address these SMD topics;

2)      Key issues WIEB staff considers important with regard to the respective SMD topic; and

3)      Comments by various interest groups and States (primarily Western) to FERC regarding the SMD paper.

 

Elements of Standard Market Design

 

***Links in this column are to the respective section in the FERC’s SMD Paper and the subsequent “Options SMD Paper”***

Comments and Links

 

 

Locational Marginal Pricing

 

  • Paper requires the use of LMP for congestion management.

 

 

 

*Options Paper LMP

 

  • There are two types of services available to transmit wholesale power:  1) Network Integration Transmission Service; and 2) Point to Point (firm or non-firm).  FERC’s SMD will take much from PJM and NYISO’s LMP systems. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western RTO proposals

  • RTO West:  system is a nodal system, comprised of financial transmission rights called “Financial Transmission Options”, which are defined with respect to particular injection and withdrawal locations.
  • WestConnect: system is path based rather than nodal.  These are physical rights as opposed to financial rights (not an LMP system).
  • CAISO’s LMP under its Market Design 2002 (Page 91), including a comparison with FERC’s SMD and an explanation of the proposed system of FTR’s.  These would be nodal financial rights that would allow for complete hedging of congestion costs.
  • CA ISO’s amendment No. 42 changing their congestion management system, which FERC rejected on March 29, 2002.

 

Issues

  • It is not known how FERC will rule on the LMP system proposed by RTO West.  FERC recently rejected CAISO’s amendment to a portion of their congestion management system and it is unclear how this will affect CAISO’s LMP system design and implementation.  It is also uncertain how FERC will rule on the congestion management system under the WestConnect tariff.  Finally, there will likely be significant seams issues between the three RTO’s, if all have different forms of congestion management or LMP’s.

 

 Other comments

  • William Hogan’s comments emphasizing how important well-designed LMP systems are to energy imbalances, short-term reliability and transmission congestion management.
  • BPA comments regarding the difficulty of devising and implementing an LMP system.
  • EEI comments regarding physical trading hubs.
  • Oregon comments supporting a bid-based rather than cost-based system of LMP. 
  • California Electricity Oversight Board (Page 8) comments stating the need for the Commission to clarify the definition of congestion costs, and saying LMP is an important structural tool to use with other market monitoring tools. 
  • Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Page 3) urging the Commission not to base a congestion management system solely on LMP because of the special considerations resulting from the Pacific Northwest’s dependence on hydropower.
  • Xcel energy comments (Page 7) urging the Commission not to rule out alternative forms of congestion management. 
  • SMUD comments (Page 10) stating LMP may not be the best system to manage congestion in the West, urging the Commission to use a phased in approach. 
  • CPUC comments (Page 7) in support of LMP, demand response and seams issues.  
  • WestConnect comments stating that an LMP system may not be the best congestion management system for the Southwest given the structure of their grid.  They also say their “physical transmission rights” system was achieved through broad consensus and will achieve comparable efficiency to an LMP system. 

 

Market Monitoring

 

  • Market Monitoring Unit’s will be independent of RTO management and will report directly to the Commission.  Emphasis on structural solutions (RTO’s, independent transmission operators, supply and demand) over behavioral solutions (monitoring for withholding) to mitigate market power – but both will be in place.

 

 

Western RTO proposals

 

Other comments

  • NASUCA (National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates) joint comments urging the Commission to undertake a region by region economic analysis of RTO’s and use the results to incorporate generation market power mitigation measures in each RTO design.
  • EEI comments on market monitoring.
  • NARUC comments urging the Commission to further develop market-monitoring principles. 
  • Oregon comments requesting the Commission further develop and document specific market mitigation measures it proposes to use. 
  • California Electricity Oversight Board (Page 5) comments identifying that market monitoring is crucial and must identify design problems to be corrected early and include behavioral solutions to mitigating market power.
  • EPSA comments (Page 6) on market monitoring.
  • CAISO comments (Page 20) on market monitoring, among other things asking that the MMU not be separate from RTO staff and management.
  • Xcel energy comments (Page 12) on market mitigation, stating the SMD’s treatment of market monitoring is vague and overly broad. 
  • SMUD comments (Page 13) emphasizing the importance that MMU’s be separate from market participants. 
  • CPUC comments (Page 13) supporting the SMD treatment of market monitoring, including designing structural mitigation measures, but cautions that behavioral measures are needed as circumstances change. 

Operating Reserves

 

  • Establishes a regional focus for the maintenance and operation of operating reserves.  Calls for a more “market-oriented” approach for the regulation and procurement of operating reserves. 
  • LSE has the obligation to procure and regulate operating reserves, subject to specific operational requirements.
  • Reliability authorities may establish locational requirement for operating reserves. 

 

 

 

Western RTO proposals

 

Other Comments

  • EEI comments; reserve markets need more development.
  • CAISO comments (Page 14) supporting the creation of a bid-based market for ancillary services, as proposed in the SMD paper.  

Transmission Rights

 

  • Does not address the allocation of transmission rights in detail, but notes this issue needs further attention.  Proposes two options; 1) direct allotment; and 2) auction.

 

 

*Options paper Transmission Rights

 

  • The paper discusses several options for the allocation of transmission rights including: converting existing customers’ usage to the initial Transmission Rights; giving all customers that pay access charges the same rights; assigning rights based on existing contract rights and historical usage; auctioning rights and assigning revenue based on existing contract rights; partial allocation and auction; or allowing regional variation. 

 

Western RTO Proposals

  • See LMP links for 3 RTO’s.

 

Other Comments

  • Oregon comments requesting that only source to sink rights, rather than flowgate rights, be the system of hedging congestion costs.  Also transmission rights be options rather than obligations.
  • RTO West comments (Page 9) supporting a source-sink/options system of FTR’s as well as comments regarding the allocation of transmission rights. 
  • EPSA comments (Page 4) on transmission rights.
  • CAISO comments (Page 17) regarding transmission right allocation based on use of capacity benefit margin.
  • SMUD comments (Page 12) requesting that transmission rights be assigned to load serving entities, on behalf of the load they serve, because they have already paid for embedded costs.
  • WestConnect comments on the importance of determining transmission right allocation, specifically that load serving entities should have priority to transmission rights.    

Intermittent Power

 

  • Market rules must be “technology and fuel-neutral,” to allow for intermittent supply resources to participate in energy, ancillary, and capacity markets. 

Western RTO proposals

  • RTO West

o             No Penalty for Wind imbalance market (Page 51)

  • WestConnect

o             No Provision for intermittent power

  • CA ISO

o             Tariff Amendment 42, accepted by FERC, proposes modifications to facilitate greater participation by intermittent resources. 

Other Comments

  • Also see Idaho PUC’s comments in the imbalance markets section below.
  • BPA comments (Page 3) urging the Commission to accept regional differences, particularly with respect to the Pacific Northwest’s reliance on hydropower. 
  • American Wind Energy Association comments supporting the SMD’s treatment of wind power, but urging the Commission to eliminate imbalance penalties, create effective market monitoring, coordinate the SMD process with the Interconnection ANOPR, and adopt transitional mechanisms. 
  • California Electricity Oversight Board (Page 4) comments stating there must be accommodation in market rules in order for intermittent resources to participate fully in energy markets.
  • Xcel Energy comments (Page 3) urging the Commission to recognize regional differences, especially with regard to non-jurisdictional utilities.
  • Puget Sound Energy comments emphasizing the need for SMD to account for regional differences, especially due to the PacificNorthwest’s reliance on hydropower.     

 

Day-Ahead Energy Market

  • Transmission provider must operate a voluntary, bid-based, security constrained day-ahead energy market to perform two functions: 1) select units to be run the next day through a bid system; and 2) set the energy prices to be paid in each hour for that energy. 

Western RTO Proposals

  • All three RTO’s contain a day-ahead scheduling processes.

 

Issues

  • How will scheduling options of a day-ahead energy market be structured to accommodate energy limited resources such as hydroelectric power and environmentally constrained thermal and intermittent power?
  •  

Other Comments

  • Oregon comments recommending that the Commission require RTO’s to administer an hour-ahead as well as a day-ahead market.
  • RTO West’s comments (Page 4) stating it should not be the transmission provider’s responsibility to operate a day-ahead energy market.
  • California Electricity Oversight Board (Page 10) comments supporting the day-ahead energy market in the SMD paper, but pointing out the differences in CAISO’s long term market design.
  • CAISO comments (Page 9) on energy markets.  Also contains several comments on their treatment of demand response, and market mitigation.
  • CPUC comments (Page 8) supporting both a day-ahead and real-time energy market.      
  • Puget Sound Energy comments urging the Commission to not mandate unbalanced schedules in order to fully accommodate self-supply generation, saying that requiring a generator commitment to satisfy the needs of a day-ahead energy market will increase costs.  

State Participation in RTO’s

 

  • Establishes an independent advisory committee to include state representatives that will decide regional rate issues, receive reports from MMU’s, and work in collaboration to decide rate design and revenue requirement issues in partnership with the Commission. 

Western RTO Proposals

  • RTO West

o       Proposed “advisory committees” will report to the board and will be organized by subject.  This is designed to be much like the structure of the WECC advisory groups.  As of now, there are no provisions specific to State participation in an advisory capacity to the RTO West board.

o       Establishes a Stakeholder Advisory Committee consisting of 2 representatives from eight sectors of the electric power industry, including Utilities Commissions.

  • CA ISO – no provision for state representation in an advisory capacity.

 

Issues

  • Pending legislation on S.517 (reliability section of Title II) requires the FERC to establish regional advisory bodies on the petition of at least 2/3 of the States within a region that have more than ½ of their electric load served within the region.  These bodies will be comprised of Governor appointed representatives, provide advice to the ERO, a regional reliability entity, and will receive deference from the FERC if the body is organized on an interconnection-wide basis.
  • Authority of state advisory committees is unclear and may be insufficient to enable states to “undo” an RTO if the RTO is not working, thus leaving states with one-time regulatory role in RTOs (e.g., approve initial transfer of transmission assets)

Other Comments

  • Oregon comments expressing concern that States have no regulatory oversight over the formation of RTO’s, and that the costs of forming RTO’s may go unchecked.
  • CAISO comments (Page 24) emphasizing the importance State cooperation plays in designing RTO operational rules.   

Demand Response

 

  • One of 11 guiding principles directing SMD, and is essential in a competitive market to ensure the efficient interaction of supply and demand, provide a check on supplier power, and implement more choice to the end-use customer. 
  • D/R will be a crucial part of the operation of day-ahead energy markets, market-oriented operating reserves and market power monitoring structural solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western RTO proposals

  • RTO West

o           D/R programs will be used for congestion management

o           Demand side resources will be an integral part of the competitive ancillary services procurement process

  • WestConnect

o           Does not contain demand response provisions, but will consider demand-side resources in upcoming planning standards.  (Page 5)

  • CA ISO

o           Tariff directs market participants to consider demand side management as an alternative to building new transmission. (Page 5)

Issues

  • Demand response will be a large portion of FERC’s final ruling and the success of SMD hinges largely on the implementation of effective, efficient and comprehensive demand response programs.

Other Comments

  • Idaho PUC comments cautioning the Commission to be very careful in drawing the line when implementing demand response mechanisms in states without unbundled retail service.  In particular, they urge the Commission that permitting retail customers to sell their energy savings in the wholesale market would undermine the ability of the utility to manage its resources and might compromise the reliability of service to retail customers.  They also mention the issue of jurisdiction over demand response programs deserves more detailed attention.   
  • EEI comments on demand response
  • NARUC comments maintaining that the Commission defer to States when determining how retail customers should participate.  Also pointing out that D/R is not a panacea for solving all wholesale electric market ills, rather one of many tools.  Emphasized the need for a diversity of resources to be used in D/R. 
  • Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Page 3) urging the Commission to clarify how demand response programs would work in states with bundled retail service. 
  • Xcel energy comments (Page 10) on demand response. 
  • Puget Sound Energy comments urging the Commission to be more aggressive in pushing demand response programs, as well as advocating that the costs of demand response programs be socialized and recovered through access charges. 

Imbalance Markets

 

  • One entity, independent of the markets they serve, will regulate and operate both the imbalance and transmission markets.
  • Day-ahead and real-time markets will be used to balance the system.

 

 

 

Western RTO proposals

  • RTO West

o                 Imbalance Penalties (Page 12)

  • WestConnect

o                 Imbalance Provisions (Page 33)

  • CA ISO

o                  Imbalance Provisions in Ancillary Appendix

Issues

  • There is a lot of concern from Western entities about how SMD will differ in the West as compared with the PJM/NYISO model FERC has primarily relied on to this point, and how FERC will accommodate these differences.  Concern seems to center around three areas.  One, throughout the West, there are varying levels of market development as well as varying levels of retail access which all have differing needs with respect to SMD policies.  Two, the PJM/NYISO model is reliant upon a “tight” functioning power pool. It is unclear how FERC will deal with the different structure of the Western Interconnection.  Three, there is a lot of concern in the Pacific Northwest in particular, as to how SMD policies will affect and/or accommodate this area’s hydropower dominant electricity market.

  

Other Comments

  • Idaho PUC comments applauding FERC for recognizing special provisions might be needed in the Northwest regarding the treatment of hydropower, and urging them to acknowledge regional differences such as these when designing SMD.

Network Access Service

 

  • Gives the customer the right to transmit power between two points, a source and a sink (generator – load, generator – trading hub, trading hub – trading hub, or from trading hub – load) 
  • An access charge would be used to recover the embedded costs of the transmission system (the manner in which these costs will be recovered needs more discussion).
  • Two options for handling congestion costs: 1) predetermined price (price certainty – FTR’s); and 2) applicable congestion charge where the customer bears the full cost of congestion management (price uncertainty).

 

 

 

*Options Paper Network Access Service

 

  • Three types of service will be blended into Network Access (a combination of PJM and NYISO service).  An access charge would be used to recover embedded costs.  FERC will allow the cost allocation of access charges to be regionally flexible, as this will affect various users of the system differently.  The paper provides a variety of options for cost allocation.   

 

Western RTO Proposals

 

  • RTO West will have a system much like Network Access Service where customers who are taking service from RTO West will have access to all sources and sinks and will pay an access charge. 
  • WestConnect (Page 10, 26, 92) proposes a different system from Network Access Service, where there will be a single access charge or a “license plate fee” charged across the entire system, and access will be available across the system based on this license plate fee.  There will be two types of charges: 2) Grid Management Component – which will recover all WestConnect’s costs of operations; and 2) Transmission Adjustment Charge – which will permit full recovery of transmission revenue requirement.
  • CAISO’s system of recovering fixed costs is not clear. 

 

Issues

  • It is unclear how the access charge would be used to recover embedded costs of the transmission system.  How will the access charge be determined and will it be the same for a customer transmitting power from a generator to a load as for a customer transmitting power from a trading hub to a load? 
  • Network Access Service contains two types of congestion management (price certainty-LMP and price uncertainty).  Whether and how a customer participates in the LMP congestion management depends entirely upon how transmission rights are allocated and whether they are “obligations” or “options”. 

 

Other Comments

  • NARUC comments applauding the Commission’s effort of preserving the current rights of transmission users (native load/existing contracts) should a single tariff be implemented. 
  • WAPA comments (Page 4) regarding cost recovery needs of non-jurisdictionals, as well as emphasizing the need for consideration of regional differences.  
  • CAISO comments (Page 3) applauding the Commission for their Network Access Service, as well as outlining some of the guiding principles in CAISO’s Market Design 02.
  • CPUC comments (Page 9) on Network Access Service, stating every customer will have access to the system through a system of sources and sinks with load serving entities getting priority in transmission right access. 
  • WestConnect comments urging the Commission to clarify the details of NAS. 
  • PG&E comments regarding the treatment of existing contract customers, as well as access charges, emphasizing the need to take care of current customers’ contract rights. 
  • Puget Sound Energy comments expressing concern that Network Access does not contain detailed treatment of transmission providers existing retail load obligations. 

Transmission Planning

 

  • Pro-active long-term planning and expansion is to be done regionally through a mechanism offered through the RTO’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western RTO proposals

  • RTO West – outlines RTO West’s planning and expansion process.
  • WestConnect – outlines WestConnect’s planning and expansion process.
  • CA ISO – outlines relationship between ISO and TO’s concerning transmission expansion. (Page 2)

Other comments

  • Portland General Electric comments on congestion management and transmission planning and expansion.
  • EEI comments on long-term planning and expansion, specifically asking the Commission to carefully clarify the roles and responsibilities of a centralized RTO planning system.
  • CAISO comments (Page 18) supporting a pro-active RTO transmission planning process as outlined in the SMD paper, but says further work is needed. 
  • SMUD comments (Page 18) requesting the Commission provide support to RTO’s throughout the planning process.
  • CPUC comments (Page 7) on transmission planning.  

Long-Term Generation Adequacy

 

  • SMD should include measures to ensure adequate long-term generation supplies, however, how to do this is a contentious issue deserving further discussion. 

 

*Options paper Long-term Generation Adequacy

  • Paper provides several options for designing forward-looking supply obligations including: relying on energy prices and information on projected supply/demand situation; requiring a regional supply obligation; requiring a regional capacity obligation; imposing a supply obligation on load serving entities only if projected reserves fall below a trigger level; instituting capacity obligation for operating reserves only.

 

 

Western RTO Proposals

  • RTO West:  Does not address L-T Generation Adequacy
  • WestConnect:  Does not address L-T Generation Adequacy
  • CAISO:  ACAP (Available Capacity Requirement) (Page 43) will be imposed on all Load Serving Entities that will require each LSE, on a month-ahead basis, to identify the resources they will make available to serve their load forecast plus a reasonable reserve margin.

 

Other Comments

*Options Paper Transition Issues

 

  • There are significant transition issues involved with customers under existing contracts, customers under bundled retail service, and various retail service development stages in states.  The question is how to incorporate all these service levels into SMD.  The paper presents several options.    

Other Comments

  • NARUC comments urging the Commission not to force the transition to a standard market design before markets are prepared, primarily because different regions of the country are in different stages of development, and will face different transitional issues.  Also seeks clarification as to how SMD will overlap with RTO development. 
  • Oregon comments asking the Commission to provide detailed documentation of transitional issues such as treatment of non-jurisdictional utilities in SMD. 
  • Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Page 4) urging the Commission to consider regional differences in transitioning to SMD, and to be careful not to impede any ongoing RTO work.
  • SMUD comments (Page 2) suggesting the Commission proceed cautiously in implementing SMD, including recognizing the need for the Commission to consider regional differences.  
  • WestConnect comments on transitional issues. 

Miscellaneous SMD issues.

Standards Development Organization

 

 

RTO Formation

 

  • CPUC comments not supporting the direction the Commission is heading with respect to RTO functions.
  • New Mexico Attorney General comments protesting the filing of the WestConnect tariff, as well as RTO formation.
  • PG&E’s comments supporting the Commissions promotion of RTO development.  They particularly endorse large RTO’s and the removal of financial disincentives for joining an RTO.
  • Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems comments generally supporting RTO formation.
  • PJM comments emphasizing to the commission that too much separation of market functions in a bid-based system will prove disastrous.  PJM’s comments are noteworthy because the Commission is and will rely heavily on the PJM model to develop SMD principles.  
  • TransConnect comments on RTO functions.
  • EPSA comments supporting a major role for RTO’s in the responsibility and authority to oversee major market functions.
  • WestConnect comments urging the Commission to allow RTO’s to be transcos.
  • RTO West general comments on RTO functions.
  • RTO West comments urging the committee to allow flexibility in the RTO formation process, specifically to accommodate BPA in the Pacific Northwest.
  • California Municipal Utilities Association comments on RTO functions.  Principally, RTO should be focused on reliability and not the administration of markets for energy, ancillary services, or any other products.  Regional transmission planning and expansion should rest with the RTO, and diverse market participants must be accommodated.  Comments are supported by SMUD.
  • Transmission Access Policy Study Group comments on both RTO formation and SMD.
  • EEI comments (Section B. 1.) urging the Commission to rule on existing RTO proposals.