Dive Brief:
- Independent power producer Dynegy wants Ameren Illinois, the utility that buys electricity generated by the five Illinois coal plants that Dynegy acquired last year, to move to the PJM Interconnection from the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) so Dynegy can benefit by selling the plants’ output into the PJM capacity market.
- In PJM's three-years-ahead capacity auctions, its sloped demand curve allows the market to respond to tightening supply. This resulted in recent capacity prices that, at $125.99 per megawatt-hour-day for 2014/2015, were some seven times higher than the $16.75 per megawatt-hour-day price MISO's vertical demand curve produced in its yearly capacity auctions, according to Katy Sullivan, director of public relations and internal communications for Dynegy.
- Ratepayer advocates argue Dynegy’s move to PJM will add no significant power supply or reliability but, according to one ratepayer advocate's calculation, will impose a 9% to 10% increase to the average residential ratepayer’s bill.
Dive Insight:
Dynegy Inc., Illinois’s second biggest power generator, indicated another solution would be for MISO to shift to a longer-term auction and a capacity market with a more sloped demand curve.
Dynegy’s concern with boosting coal revenues through capacity market prices came with its acquisition of five Ameren Illinois coal plants in 2013, bringing its total Illinois coal ownership to nine plants and 7,042 megawatts.
Commonwealth Edison is the dominant northern Illinois electric utility. If Ameren Illinois, the dominant southern Illinois electric utility, shifts to PJM as ComEd did ten years ago, Ameren would earn more than it does now and make the average Ameren Illinois residential customer bill higher.
