ISO-NE is the RTO for New England, responsible for operating wholesale power markets that trade electricity, capacity, transmission congestion contracts, and related products, in addition to administering auctions for the sale of capacity. ISO-NE operates New England’s high-voltage transmission network and performs long-term planning for the New England system. ISO-NE serves six New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. New England’s all-time peak load was 28 GW in summer 2006. ISO-NE is interconnected with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), TransEnergie (Québec), and the New Brunswick System Operator. ISO-NE imports around 17 percent of its annual energy needs from Québec, NYISO, and New Brunswick. In ISO-NE’s annual Forward Capacity Auction (FCA), both generator and demand resources offer capacity three years before the period for which capacity will be supplied. The three-year lead time is intended to encourage participation by new resources and allow the market to adapt to resources leaving the market. ISO-NE relies primarily on natural gas-fired and nuclear generation, accounting for 49% and 31% of the system’s supply in 2016, respectively.
Today, ESAI Power, a market research and consulting firm, announced the immediate availability of its Renewables WatchTM Service which provides Class I REC (Renewable Energy Certificates) Price outlooks to 2030 for the ISO-NE & PJM power generation and transmission systems and the Supply & Demand Balance forecasts for the NYISO power generation and transmission system.
Our Q2 issue of Energy WatchTM came out this week. In our Q2 Energy WatchTM report ESAI Power provides an update on the Seasonal NOx regulations under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the expected impact on allowance prices, Northeast power plant emissions, and wholesale power prices. For each ISO, ESAI Power provides an overview of projected net energy revenue expectations for key generation technologies.
Weather forecasts across the Northeast power markets continue to call for warmer-than-normal temperatures this summer and elevated electricity demand will be the main congestion driver in August. Planned generator maintenance will be minimal; however, forced generator outages during hot summer weather could significantly impact congestion and be an import constraint on areas across the Northeast Power Pools.
Our Q1 issue of Capacity WatchTM came out this week. In this issue, we’re covering results from ISO-New England FCA15 and an outlook for FCA16. In PJM we’re forecasting the BRA clearing prices expected in the upcoming capacity auction. For NYISO, due to a lower forecasted peak load and a drop in the Locational Capacity Requirement (LCR), prices are expected to decline substantially for New York City.
ESAI Power LLC
401 Edgewater Place, Suite 640
Wakefield, MA 01880
Phone: +1.781.245.2036
ESAI Power is a market research and consulting firm that delivers focused analysis of the wholesale power markets in the Northeast region of the US: PJM, NYISO, and ISO-NE. Since 2001, ESAI has been providing market-focused research product content and custom consulting services for Northeast power market participants including investors (banks, private equity, & hedge funds) & developers, generation owners & operators, utilities & retail electricity suppliers, regulators & RTOs, traders, and end-users & buyers.