March 1 marks 10th anniversary of “Standard Market Design”

Ten years ago, on March 1, 2003, ISO New England replaced the preliminary wholesale electricity market rules, procedures, and operating systems first introduced in the region in 1999 with what we called Standard Market Design (SMD).

Based on our experience and that of other ISOs running electricity markets, SMD significantly expanded and refined New England’s marketplace. It added new features such as the Day-Ahead Energy Market and locational marginal pricing that gave market participants better tools to protect against price volatility and also revealed the true cost of producing and supplying power at various locations on the power system.

Today, we use the same system to price wholesale electricity in New England—a testament to the hard work and careful consideration that resulted from the cooperative and robust stakeholder process. Of course, we’ve continued to build on SMD’s foundation, enhancing our suite of markets to ensure an efficient and reliable power system in New England.

View the 2013 Wholesale Markets Project Plan for a look at what market enhancements are planned or underway for this year.