| Notes |
LaFLEUR, Chairman, concurring:
The ISO-New England (ISO-NE) Forward Capacity Market (FCM) plays a vital
role in ensuring reliability in New England. The FCM auction (the Forward Capacity
Auction or FCA) is the mechanism that ensures future system reliability by procuring
capacity resources sufficient to meet New England’s resource adequacy needs.1
It is
therefore imperative that the rules governing the FCA be transparent and that auction
participants not be subject to significant regulatory uncertainty or after-the-fact
ratemaking. This is especially important in light of the current capacity situation in New
England, where for the first time the region is facing an overall capacity shortage2 and the
FCM must procure new resources in order to satisfy New England’s reliability needs.
In today’s order, the Commission requires ISO-NE to either revise its tariff to
provide for Independent Market Monitor (IMM) review of import offers prior to each
FCA or show cause why it should not be required to do so. While I am concerned that
any new tariff provisions regarding the mitigation of imported resources may discourage
their market participation, I agree with ordering ISO-NE to examine its tariff and ensure
that mitigation provisions are just and reasonable. Under the Federal Power Act (FPA),
the Commission has the authority and obligation to require prospective rate changes
needed to ensure that rates remain just and reasonable.3
As such, I support today’s order. |