تثبیت بازار انرژی و همگرایی: بازبینی مسائل تلفات

Recent orders by FERC on regional transmission organizations signal a consolidation and convergence of energy markets in North America. The impact of this policy shift on configuration and transition “seams issues” is not yet fully appreciated. Various sources have demonstrated that structure/ operation seams issues undermine the two primary objectives of competitive energy markets: economic efficiency and power system reliability. In a previous article, Michael Bailey and Christopher Eaton analyzed seams issues relating to the structure and operations of Northeastern energy markets (i.e., New York, New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Ontario) and their operators (i.e., the New York Independent System Operator [ISO], ISO New England, Pennsylvania -New Jersey - Maryland [PJM] Interconnection, and the Ontario Independent Market Operator [IMO], respectively), and reviewed policy initiatives aimed at eliminating these seams issues.1 The purpose was to assess the extent to which energy markets in the Northeast were converging toward a seamless environment and to advance the relevant policy debate. Recent U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders have indicated that the Commission will adopt a more active role in en-couraging consolidation and convergence among regional transmission organization (RTO) candidates to form a few, relatively large regional energy markets.2 In this article, we analyze seams issues relating to the configuration and transition of four major regions (the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West) using the analytical framework introduced in the previous article. Our purpose here is to assess the impact of RTO consolidation and convergence on high-level “configuration/ transition” seams issues and to advance the debate on these complex policy challenges.

Despite recent progress, seams issues continue to hinder the development of competitive wholesale energy markets. It is widely acknowledged that these issues — at both the “configuration/ transition” and “structure/operation” levels — undermine the efficiency and reliability of regional energy markets. The purpose of this article was to assess the impact of RTO consolidation and convergence on high-level “configuration/transition” seams issues and to advance the debate on these complex policy challenges. So, how has RTO consolidation and convergence affected configuration and transition issues? Much policy-level progress has been made by FERC and other entities to effectively address these issues, especially during the most recent six months of the transition; however, the remaining scope of work is significant and several of the most challenging issues remain unresolved. From an overall transition perspective, FERC's recent move toward a consolidation and convergence policy was a positive and necessary first step. But it was merely another important step in the journey toward seamless energy markets. FERC, federal and state authorities, RTO candidates, market participants, and other industry stakeholders must take a more active role in resolving the configuration and transition seams issues raised here. Our primary concern is that the complexity of the issues and vested interests will needlessly hinder the overall transition program. Nonetheless, we believe the movement toward consolidation and convergence has had a positive impact on the resolution of outstanding configuration and transition seams issues. If FERC is able to maintain its current policy direction by using the policy tools at its disposal, and if work to resolve the most significant configuration/transition seams issues continues, a seamless energy marketplace may be achieved within the next few years. ■