ERCOT Is a Market Change Coming

Last Friday, October 25th, comments by Texas Public Utility Commissioners Ms. Nelson and Ms. Marty indicating their preference for a mandatory reserve margin of generation made the news. What that means is unclear. No action was taken and no specific action was suggested. The third commissioner, Mr. Anderson, is on record being opposed to a mandatory reserve margin as a means to insure resource adequacy. This has been a topic polarizing market participants for a while. As regards IPP, we have discussed the issue for the last year and recently began including the following note in our recommendations: