Below is a summary of the issues scheduled to be brought to a vote at the Markets and Reliability and Members committees Thursday. Each item is listed by agenda number, description and projected time of discussion, followed by a summary of the issue and links to prior coverage in RTO...

The Market Implementation Committee last week approved rule changes implementing a new Tier 1 resource compensation plan that the group endorsed in July. The changes passed with 28 opposed and 16 abstentions. The policy requires changes to Manual 11: Energy & Ancillary Services Market Operations; Manual 28: Operating Agreement Accounting;...

By Tom Kleckner Sunflower Electric Power lost a second time last week in its bid to recover $5 million it claims it is owed for “backstopping” a power-supply arrangement between Kansas Municipal Energy Agency and Garden City, Kan. FERC denied Sunflower’s request for a rehearing of a July 2014 order...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. PJM energy market prices were down almost 40% in the first half of 2015 compared with 2014, while capacity and transmission service charges rose by double digits, the Independent Market Monitor reported last week. The load-weighted average real-time LMP, which hit $69.92/MWh in the first six...

VALLEY FORGE, Pa., — PJM will continue the generator testing begun last winter with only minor changes after members rejected proposals to expand the program. More than 62% of more than 130 stakeholders who responded to a poll said they preferred continuing the program — begun last winter in response...

By Michael Brooks The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week rejected a rehearing request on its approval of Commonwealth Edison’s wholesale distribution charge on an energy storage facility (ER15-3). Energy Vault’s solar-powered electric vehicle charging station on Northerly Island in Chicago. In its request, the Energy Storage Association contested ComEd’s...

By Chris O’Malley and Rich Heidorn Jr. MILWAUKEE — MISO Independent Market Monitor David Patton on Wednesday called for tighter rules on wayward generators, more precise real-time pricing and a fix for Financial Transmission Rights funding shortfalls. He also engaged in a spirited debate with board members over his longstanding...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. and Suzanne Herel The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday approved PJM's dramatic restructuring of its capacity market, saying the changes were justified by “the combination of deteriorating resource performance and the ongoing change in the resource mix in the PJM region.” The proposal, a response...

By William Opalka Increased use of renewable energy will depress energy prices, increase capacity prices and lead to early retirement of some baseload plants, according to a discussion paper by ISO-NE. Conceptual illustration of potential transmission for 12,000 MW wind scenario. (Click to zoom) The RTO said renewables’ low operating...

PPL on Monday completed the spinoff of its competitive energy business, which was combined with the generation assets owned by Riverstone Holdings to form Talen Energy, a new independent power producer. The merchant generation spinoff leaves PPL with only regulated utility assets in the U.S. and U.K. “Over the past...