Studies & Reports
Western Day-Ahead Seams Market Exploration
Given the development of two different day-ahead markets in the West, there has been considerable discussion and speculation about market seams. While the West already manages a significant number of seams, it lacks extensive experience in managing seams between organized markets. Because of this, Public Generating Pool and Western Power Trading Forum decided to partner together, along with Energy Strategies, to develop information for its members and the stakeholder community on the types of tools used to manage seams in other parts of the country and whether and how those tools may be applied to seams between day-ahead markets in the West.
This work aims to provide a framework for understanding seams and is not intended to convey a position on how the West should proceed in its market development. Ultimately, what we learned is that, while seams issues are manageable and many tools exist to enable greater efficiency across market seams, those tools were developed in the context of fully integrated RTOs and not in the context of day-ahead markets only. Therefore, these tools, while instructive, may not necessarily be directly applicable in the context of where the West is currently in its market evolution.
The study also highlights several potential seams issues that are outside of the economic seams managed by the RTO toolkits, but that are nonetheless important considerations for the West as we envision a two-market future. Our seams exploration is a starting point for understanding the potential seams and seams issues that we might expect with two day-ahead markets and can serve as a launching point for more detailed discussions as more about the nature of the actual seams become known.
PGP Market Evaluation
The goal of the assessment was to help PGP members understand how they may be affected by new energy market structures that could emerge in the coming years, including day-ahead markets and regional transmission organizations (RTOs). The study examined how the operations of differently situated “proxy portfolios”, which comprise loads, generation, contracts, and market access assumptions, are likely to be affected by the new market constructs under two study horizons: 2022 and 2030.
Organized Market Retrospective
In an effort to support PGP member utilities in their evaluation of organized markets, PGP conducted a review of past organized market efforts in the West. The Organized Market Retrospective report includes a summary of market functions that are typically shared under an organized market, an overview of the past initiatives to create an organized market, and a summary of key takeaways and proposed next steps.