PJM

The independent market monitors for every Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in the country have once again found that organized markets are competitive, and provide economic benefits to consumers. The findings were based on detailed reports for 2009, and were highlighted by the Electric Power Supply Association.
 

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) Year in Review 2009 report detailed how despite the economic downturn installed solar power capacity climbed past 2,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power a city of 350,000 homes. The top two states in 2009 and cumulative installed capacity were states with competitive power markets.
 

A combination of hotter summers, an aging electrical grid and uneven adoption of smart grid technology has increased the need for electric infrastructure investment, according to a University of Minnesota research study cited by CNN reporter Thom Patterson.
 
COMPETE agrees significant investment is needed in our national grid to reach our nation’s sustainable energy goals and maintain electric reliability needs. But CNN missed an important opportunity to highlight how competitive electricity markets are helping ensure reliability and encourage innovation and investment while protecting consumers from the financial risk of poor or failed investment decisions.
 

Competition is helping the nation’s organized markets weather this summer’s peak electricity demands as heat waves gripped much of the country. Both private investment and innovative demand response technology, two of the most distinct benefits of competitive markets supported by the transparent price signals markets provide, have kept the lights on in spite new power-demand records.
 

Competitive electricity markets are helping lead the nation toward a smart grid future. So says a new report from GTM Research, which ranks the top 10 states leading smart grid implementation. Seven of the 10 states participate in competitive electricity markets. California ranks first, followed in the rankings by Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
 
These state rankings result from a mix of effective regulatory oversight and private investment, but all deliver economic and environmental benefits to consumers. “These 10 states are the laboratories for U.S. smart grid policy, and their influence on the pace and scope of deployment is durable and growing,” said Stephen Munro, energy policy analyst for GTM Research.
 

Clean energy generation has grown at a phenomenal pace in the PJM Interconnection market.  Data from PJM’s Environmental Information Services’ (EIS) tracking system shows that over the past five years, wind generation has increased almost 1,300 percent, from 500,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) in 2005 to 6,500,000 MWh in 2009. Solar power, which accounted for only 100 MWh in 2005, produced more than 81,000 MWh – a 3,000 percent increase.

This infusion of clean energy has reduced PJM’s carbon dioxide emissions per MWh of generation by 12 percent since 2005, created green jobs, and provided customers with low-carbon energy alternatives, according to the EIS data.

Regional electricity markets are well-structured and well-regulated, and by delivering competitive results are providing real economic and environmental benefits to consumers, the Independent Market Monitors for the majority of regional transmission operator/independent system operator (RTO/ISO) markets said at a COMPETE-sponsored Capitol Hill policy briefing. These markets are creating innovation, new investment and competitive electricity rates – all the while ensuring system reliability, the monitors said.

Retail competition in Pennsylvania is benefitting consumers, said several members of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission this week at a public hearing. Chairman Jim Cawley, Commissioner Wayne Gardner, and Commissioner Robert Powelson made their supportive comments before the PA Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee.

 

Commissioner Powelson dispelled tired arguments made by critics that consumers can’t make informed decisions and won’t respond to market signals, by submitting the PJM independent market monitor’s 2009 State of the Market Report into the hearing record. The report found PJM electricity markets competitive for the ninth year in a row, with wholesale electricity prices dropping over 40 percent from 2008.

 

The case for competitive markets providing tangible economic and environmental benefits gets more compelling with each passing day. The latest data comes from the three organized markets that cover the Northeastern United States – PJM Interconnection, NYISO, and ISO-NE.

Wholesale energy prices fell 45.1 percent across the PJM Interconnection, which covers 13 states and Washington, D.C., PJM Independent Market Monitor says in the 2009 State of the Market Report. This is the lowest annual average price since 2002. In PJM’s most recent capacity auction, 7,050 megawatts (MW) of demand resource offers cleared the auction – equivalent to the capacity of six to eight base load power plants. While the news across PJM is positive, two states in particular stand out for the strength of their markets.