The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has unveiled the 2023 Common Metrics Report, providing a comprehensive evaluation of the performance metrics for regional transmission organisations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) during the reporting period from 2019 to 2022. The analysis covers the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), ISO New England (ISO-NE), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
One of the focal points of the report is congestion management in energy markets. Congestion charges, representing the additional costs incurred by customers due to limitations in physical transmission lines, hindering the full delivery of the least-cost energy, have been scrutinised. The report utilises annual congestion charges per MWh of load served to gauge the effectiveness of RTO/ISO management of congestion charges. Trend analysis indicates that all RTOs and ISOs experienced an upswing in congestion charges per MWh of load served between 2019 and 2021. Notable increases were reported by SPP (USD5.83 per MWh) and MISO (USD1.65 per MWh), while other entities recorded more moderate increases below USD1.00 per MWh of load served. Additionally, the report delves into net congestion payments as a percentage of day-ahead congestion, revealing insights into how RTOs and ISOs compensate financial transmission rights (FTR) holders. Generally, it was observed that net payments to FTR holders exceeded congestion costs owed by load serving entities (LSE), with variations noted in CAISO and SPP.
The report sheds light on RTOs and ISOs’ management of the dispatch of energy from a diverse range of generating fuel types during the period from 2019 to 2022. It also highlights varying levels of demand response implementation across regions during this timeframe. The analysis extends to load-weighted, fuel-adjusted locational marginal prices, offering insights into the fluctuations across time and region. Notably, ISO-NE and SPP experienced substantial increases in 2021, while CAISO and MISO reported similar surges in 2022. The report also covers the net number of generating capacity units, emphasising the differences in additions and retirements over time among RTOs and ISOs.
Furthermore, the report focuses on capacity market metrics, including the net cost of new entry, resource deliverability, new capacity, capacity retirement, forecasted demand, capacity market procurement and prices, capacity obligations, performance assessment events, capacity over-performance, and total capacity bonus payments and penalties.
The full report can be accessed here.
