FERC order might not lower power prices

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order allowing demand response and energy efficiency resources to be included in the PJM Interconnection’s upcoming capacity auctions will lower power prices, but the decline may not be as large as first thought, Moody’s said Monday.
Moody’s expects auction prices to increase compared with last year, but the magnitude will be less because of Wednesday’s FERC order, a Credit Outlook published Monday said.
“Although the FERC-mandated reintroduction of demand response and energy efficiency will lower power producers’ prices more than without the FERC order and is credit negative for them, we estimate that the …

California PUC approves demand response auction details

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California’s investor-owned utilities will hold an auction later this year for demand response resources that can be delivered in 2016 under an auction design, protocols and standard contract that were approved Thursday by state regulators.
The move is part of California’s efforts to spur increased demand response capability in the state, partly through increased participation in the state’s wholesale markets.
The two-year pilot demand response auction mechanism aims to test the feasibility of procuring supply resources for resource adequacy with third-party direct participation in the…