Locational marginal prices for November in New York were the lowest since the New York Independent System Operator began managing the transmission grid in 1999, Rana Mukerji, senior vice president of market structures, said Wednesday during a business issues committee meeting.
The average locational based market price for power was $24.80/MWh in November compared with $42.89/MWh in November 2014, Mukerji said. Average prices in October were $30.03/MWh.
The lower prices were directly linked to lower natural gas prices, David Flanagan, a NYISO spokesman, said Thursday.
The average year-to-date cost through November of $45.66/MWh is a 37% decrease from $72.06/MWh in the same period a year ago, Mukerji said. Average sendout was 396 GWh/d in November, higher than the 389 GWh/d in October but lower than the 413 GWh/d in November 2014.
In other business, the business issues committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend approval by the NYISO Board of changes to the tariff associated with net behind-the-meter generation, Flanagan said.
The recommended changes are the first phase of a multifaceted approach for directly incorporating participation rules for behind-the-meter and distributed generation resources into the NYISO tariffs, the grid operator said.
The changes recommended Wednesday would allow owners of behind-the-meter generation with excess generation after serving the demand of the host customer to participate in the energy, capacity and ancillary services markets.
Access to the additional supply could improve grid reliability and operational flexibility and would provide more clarity and certainty for future investments in generation, Pradip Ganesan and James Pigeon, senior market design specialists, said during the meeting.
To qualify to participate, the behind-the-meter generation must be designed and operated to provide a minimum of 1 MW of average coincident load to a customer, have a nameplate generation capacity of 2 MW and have an interconnection capability of exporting 1 MW.
REFORMING THE ENERGY VISION
NYISO will continue to develop wholesale market concepts in preparation for the changes needed to implement the REV, or Reforming the Energy Vision, initiative, as software and protocols are developed, NYISO said.
The REV initiative underway at the Public Service Commission is meant to promote local sources of generation.
Specifically, NYISO will focus on reducing barriers for behind-the-meter resources. It also will improve coordination with New York transmission owners to allow resources to participate in wholesale and retail programs, the grid operator said.
Changes to support REV are also needed to allow behind-the-meter resources to participate in utility demand-response programs while enrolled as wholesale market net generators, NYISO said.
Other rules and procedures will allow the participation by other behind the meter resources including storage and intermittent resources.
