Market and Power System Design

La Capra has contributed to the development of RTO’s in the Northeast including ISO-NE, NYISO and PJM. We have assisted a variety of clients addressing SMD proposals at FERC and the creation of a locational capacity market in ISO-NE.

The recommendations we have put forth include the proper design of competitive markets; impact of wholesale market design and pricing rules on retail rates and competition; market monitoring and market power mitigation; transmission planning and pricing; regional reliability; and resource adequacy. We utilize market models when necessary to test different market rules and their impacts on prices and competition. As rules evolve in existing RTO’s, and new RTO’s are formed, our clients rely on us to understand the complex issues within these markets.


REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS & CLIENTS

PJM Market Design for Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate (PA OCA)
La Capra has been providing policy and technical advice regarding design and implementation of wholesale markets to the PA OCA since PJM first opened its markets to competition. The work has ranged from analysis of market design impacts on rates to appropriate market power mitigation.

Locational Capacity Market Impact for Connecticut Energy Advisory Board (CEAB)
The La Capra team is performing a need analysis for reliability purposes for Connecticut that may form the basis for solicitations of near-term and/or longer-term power supplies for the state. In our assessment of future supply costs for CEAB, we have modeled ISO-NE’s proposed LICAP market to determine the potential consumer costs as capacity, load and transmission capabilities change over time. Based on the results of the analysis, we will be providing recommendations to CEAB on what actions to take to mitigate customer costs and on potential changes to the LICAP market design.