Introduction to Regional Wholesale Electricity Markets - RTOs and ISOs
Live Streaming Online August 4-5, 2022
A BankWebinars.com Program
Click Here to register ($1195)
If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all registrants for three business days after the event
This course is designed to introduce basics of wholesale electricity markets operating in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The purpose is to enhance attendees’ understanding of types of wholesale electricity markets and the platforms that offer such markets. The focus will be on the functions of RTOs / ISOs and their role in providing platforms for real-time and day-ahead energy markets, ancillary service markets, and in some cases capacity markets. Participants will also gain a high-level understanding of current issues affecting electricity markets and will receive detailed explanation of how the electricity markets operate.
Learning Outcomes
Participants with little or no prior electric utility industry background or experience will be able to benefit from this course. At the adjournment of the course participants will be able to:
- Describe major components of a power system and types of wholesale electricity markets
- Describe platforms for real-time and forward wholesale electricity markets
- Explain locational marginal price (LMP) and its components
- Describe, at high level, types of risks inherent in the wholesale energy markets and financial tools to manage such risks
- Describe the role of generators, transmission, and load in a power system
- Define and provide examples of ancillary services
- State the role of FERC and state regulatory agencies
- Describe ISO/RTO functions
- Describe role of transmission in the regional wholesale electricity markets
- Explain bilateral and real-time energy markets
- Discuss RTO/ISO financial settlement and credit issues
Agenda
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2022
9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central Time
Power System Basics, Types of Generation Resources and Loads, and Regulatory Oversight
- Fundamentals of electricity, definitions, and units
- Overview of source to socket components: Generation, transmission, distribution, and loads
- Power flow demonstration
- Types of generation resources, heat rate, capacity factor, and installation costs
- Load characteristics, load duration curves, load factor, and customer classes
- Demand response
- Power system losses
- Regulatory oversight: Role of FERC, state regulatory agencies, and market monitor
- Review questions
Types of Energy Markets and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs)
- Wholesale electricity prices and volatility
- Review of supply and demand relationship
- Types of electricity markets: Real-time (spot) versus bilateral markets
- RTOs/ISOs in U.S. and Canada
- RTO functions and characteristics
- RTO drivers
- Advantages and disadvantages of RTO /ISO participation
- Regulatory framework and role of FERC and state regulatory agencies
- RTO stakeholders
- Review questions
Locational Marginal Price (LMP)
- LMP concept
- Components of LMP and examples
- Nodal, Hub, and Zonal LMP
- LMP demonstration, review questions, and class exercise
RTO/ISO Wholesale Electricity Markets
- Economic merit order and unit commitment
- Security constrained economic dispatch
- Cost of transmission congestion and losses
- Financial transmission rights (FTRs) for transmission congestion hedging
- Day ahead and real-time market, scheduling, and dispatch
- Capacity market
- Ancillary services – whose responsibilities?
- Ancillary services market
- Comparison of markets offered by RTOs/ISOs in the U.S.
- Review questions
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2022
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Central Time
Review of Previous Day; Opportunities for Questions and Discussion on Previous Day’s Material
Regional Wholesale Electricity Market Basics – Continued
- Overview of generator/load offer/bidding considerations, bid and offer curves, and three-part bid
- Generator capacity dispatch range, variable cost components, start-up cost, no load cost, and ramp rate concepts
- Overview of RTO/ISO financial settlement
- Review questions
Risk Management and Credit Requirements
- Potential risks
- Overview of risk hedging tools for real-time and bilateral markets: FTRs, virtual trading, options, futures, and SWAPs
- Credit requirements
- Review questions