ISO-NE CEO testifies on gas/electric industry coordination at US House Energy and Power hearing

On March 19, Gordon van Welie, president and chief executive officer of ISO New England, testified about the challenges associated with the region’s dependence on natural gas to produce electricity at a hearing called by the US House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

van Welie discussed ISO New England’s growing concern about the region’s reliance on natural gas to produce electricity.

Highlights of his testimony include:

• The major shift that has occurred in the generation mix in New England where now more than half of our electricity is produced by natural gas plants
• The serious operational challenges that have been created as a result of the lack of secure fuel arrangements for natural-gas-fired and oil-fired generation
• How the current wholesale electricity market design does not provide generators with the proper performance incentives to secure appropriate fuel supplies
• How ISO New England is moving at an urgent pace to address these issues, in large part by developing short- and long-term plans to enhance New England’s wholesale electricity markets

Other industry experts and executives participated in the hearing, entitled, American Energy Security and Innovation: The Role of Regulators and Grid Operators in Meeting Natural Gas and Electric Coordination Challenges, including FERC Commissioners Philip Moeller and Cheryl LaFleur, representatives from Midwest ISO, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and the Railroad Commission of Texas.

View the press release and Gordon van Welie’s testimony. A webcast of the hearing is available on the Committee’s website.