Dive Brief:

• ISO New England's forward capacity market auction came up 155 MW short for expected supply needs for 2017 and 2018 because of planned power plant retirements. Capacity prices for the region jumped.
• About 3,100 MW, or 10% of New England's power plant capacity, is slated for retirements by 2017. At the same time, about 600 MW of demand response resources have decided to drop out of the market.

Dive Insight:

The auction results were expected, partly because the region's second largest power plant recently announced its plans to retire. The results are a signal that New England needs more power supply to replace the retiring power plants.

“The region abruptly went from a capacity surplus and low prices in previous auctions to a capacity shortfall and relatively high prices,” Gordon van Welie, ISO New England president and CEO, said. “The slim capacity margin and the resulting auction prices are a clear signal to the marketplace that the region needs more power generation and demand reduction capacity.”