Generators fared better during the early January cold snap than in the 2014 polar vortex, officials told Congress, but New England needs to take urgent preventative action.

Developing trust is vital for the project siting process, said panelists at Raab Associates’ 156th New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable.

ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie last week again defended the RTO’s capacity auctions to congressmen who say market practices have led to inflated electricity rates for New England ratepayers.

Speakers at the PJM Grid 20/20 symposium discussed the challenges of the electric industry’s historic shift to natural gas.

A meeting among the New England congressional delegation, ISO-NE and FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur ended the way that it started: with LaFleur and the RTO defending rising capacity prices and the delegation unhappy.

The ninth Forward Capacity Auction in ISO-NE saw prices increase by about one-third as 1,400 MW of new resources cleared to replace retiring coal plants.

The mild winter that has moderated energy prices in New England shouldn’t lull policy makers into complacence, ISO-NE CEO Gordon van Welie said.