Power Markets

By bcpaulos

For renewable energy to succeed, we must fix the way money flows in electricity markets.

Natural Gas
Exxon’s Power Play Points to Texas’ Future
Bloomberg - Liam Denning
As stories about the energy transition go, Big Oil going big on solar power in the heart of America’s biggest oil patch is as transitiony as it gets. …
A Year in Review of Behind the Meter Solar: Unmasking the Secret Solar in California
locusenergy.com
Motivation The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market saw more hours with energy prices below $0 in 2017 than any year since 2012, …
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy policies in a time of transition
irena.org
Spurred by innovation, increased competition, and policy support in a growing number of countries, renewable energy technologies have achieved …
EU puts an end date to coal subsidies, opening a door for a European-wide phase out of coal
caneurope.org
Details Category: Press Releases Today the European Parliament, Commission and Council have taken a step in the right direction by agreeing to end coal …
Capacity pricing changes: How each power market plans to account for resource adequacy
utilitydive.com
While PJM's capacity market reform plans dominate headlines, all grid operators are facing the need for greater flexibility as renewables …
Suspension of £3.8 billion capacity market is an opportunity for re-think - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
ieefa.org - Gerard Wynn
Progress this week on British energy policy LONDON—The European Court of Justice’s decision yesterday to suspend Britain’s capacity market creates an …
Billionaire Brawl: Warren Buffett vs. Sheldon Adelson in Nevada
POLITICO - By DARIUS DIXON and ERIC WOLFF
A Nevada ballot measure over a utility monopoly has drawn more spending than the state's Senate race. Warren Buffett's Nevada energy utility is clobbering Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson in a power
Solar And Wind Industries Unite To Rewrite Electric Market Rules, Want Fair Market, Not Subsidies
Forbes - Dipka Bhambhani
.@WndSlrAlliance to rewrite @pjminterconnect @miso_energy market rules, want #fair market not #subsidies @USEnergyAssn A new solar and wind group in Washington is working on new wholesale electric market
Two Federal Courts May Have Just Saved The Nuclear Power Industry
Forbes - Brian H. Potts
(Co-authored with Mary Beall) States that want to keep their aging nuclear power fleet from retiring now have a court-approved roadmap for doing so. That’s because two federal courts of appeals last month
Market Design for Increasing Variable Resource Integration - ESIG
esig.energy - Paul M. Sotkiewicz, Ph.D. - E-Cubed Policy Associates, LLC
Renewable resources that are variable will continue being deployed on the bulk power system and in wholesale markets. Between existing financial …
Implementing the EU’s Electricity Market Design
euractiv.com
Whatever the negotiation result of the revision of the electricity market design will be, the agreed framework for “capacity mechanisms” needs to be …
Environmentalism
Electric car batteries’ ‘second life’ could be a clean energy game-changer
ThinkProgress - Joe Romm
China plans to dominate the $550 billion battery market through a recycling monopoly. Plummeting battery costs have made electric vehicles (EVs) a …
Power Worth Less Than Zero Spreads as Green Energy Floods the Grid
Bloomberg - Jesper Starn
Bright and breezy days are becoming a deeper nightmare for utilities struggling to earn a return on traditional power plants. With wind and solar …
ISO-NE proposes market bridge to valuing fuel security
utilitydive.com
The grid operator wants to treat fuel secure resources as "price takers" in its next capacity auction, rejecting two proposed fixes from the Federal …
Trump donor buys California power plant, asks feds to change energy market
sfchronicle.com - David R. Baker
Late last year, a company tied to one of President Trump’s campaign donors took possession of a bankrupt power plant in Kern County. Now, the company …
Throwing Away Electricity
Bloomberg - Sheldon Reback
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there could be free electricity, at least on occasion. The march of renewable-energy production means that …
With Brexit looming, energy sector builds new links to Europe
The Guardian - Adam Vaughan
Thanks to new interconnectors, imports could soon account for fifth of UK electricity needs While Westminster attempts to deliver Brexit within months, the UK’s energy system is set to become dramatically
FERC Move Could Undermine NJ Clean-Energy Policies
governorswindenergycoalition.org - Larry Pearce
Ruling by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that state subsidies of nuclear and renewable energy are ‘unjust and unreasonable’ could unravel range …
We’ve been talking about a national grid for years. It might be time to do it.
Vox - David Roberts
A massive new study confirms a national energy grid would pay for itself. The US does not have a national energy grid. Instead, functionally speaking, it has three grids: the Eastern Interconnection, (a
California’s huge energy decision: link its grid to its neighbors, or stay autonomous?
Vox - David Roberts
The state must decide how jealously to guard its clean energy progress. California is America’s undisputed clean energy leader, a kind of cultural and economic island, liberal enough to pass bold climate
The Quiet Undoing: How Regional Electricity Market Reforms Threaten State Clean Energy Goals
ssrn.com - Danny Cullenward
27 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2018 Last revised: 5 Oct 2018 Carnegie Institution for Science; Near Zero University of South Carolina - School of Law Date …
How FERC’s New Ruling Is Upending the Country’s Biggest Capacity Market
greentechmedia.com
For more than a year, clean energy advocates have been asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject market proposals from the country’s …
How FERC's 'unprecedented' PJM order could unravel capacity markets
utilitydive.com
The landmark Friday order echoes longstanding arguments from the coal and gas sector, but observers say it could end up a boon for renewables and …
Solar and wind are coming. And the power sector isn’t ready.
Vox - David Roberts
The rise in renewable energy will scramble the decision making of grid managers. The US electricity system is at an extremely sensitive and uncertain juncture. More and more indicators point toward a in
Donald Trump
The fake arguments against 100% renewable energy
reneweconomy.com.au - Giles Parkinson
UNSW academics compare campaign against wind and solar and high renewable energy scenarios led by pro-nuclear lobbyists to efforts by the tobacco …
'Baseload Is Poison' And 5 Other Lessons From Germany's Energy Transition
Forbes - Jeff McMahon
Baseload power is not the answer to the variability of renewable energy, a German energy official said Friday, and energy storage may not be the answer either. Germany has achieved moments in its Energiewende,
Trump’s crude bailout of dirty power plants failed, but a subtler bailout is underway
Vox - David Roberts
A look at some ominous goings-on in FERC. Last year, the Trump administration attempted a ham-handed bailout of the US coal industry. In a nutshell, Rick Perry’s Department of Energy told the Federal Regulatory
Will FERC uphold state support for clean energy?
utilitydive.com - Author
The energy law community is abuzz with the news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) weighed in on a high-profile case challenging a …
IEA report highlights need for policy action to improve power system flexibility
iea.org
IEA report highlights need for policy action to improve power system flexibility The rapid growth of renewable energy in recent years has been …