Here’s one thing that renewable energy industry groups and states with clean energy goals can say about mid-Atlantic grid operator PJM’s plan to comply with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order to rework its capacity markets — it’s better than it could have been.
Last week, PJM filed its plan to comply with FERC’s December order to force all state-subsidized resources to use a “minimum offer price rule,” or MOPR, when bidding into its roughly $10 billion-per-year capacity market. FERC’s MOPR order has been roundly attacked by clean energy groups, environmental advocates, and state utility regulators and attorneys general, as an effort to restrict carbon-free resources from the market and privilege fossil fuel-fired power plants instead — a move that could raise consumer costs substantially.
But PJM’s plan has given some hope to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that the impact of FERC’s order may not be so dire, at least for the short term, and for certain clean energy technologies that can prove themselves cost-competitive in certain parts of PJM’s 11-state territory.
Let’s dig into the details.
Source: Greentech Media
