FERC approves ISO-NE, NEPOOL request to delay 2025 capacity auction

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this week approved a request by ISO New England and the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) to delay the 19^th Forward Capacity Auction (FCA 19) by one year.

Originally planned for February 2025, FCA 19 will secure obligations from resources to be available during the 2028/2029 capacity year. Under the new schedule, the qualification process will begin in early 2025 and the auction will be held in February 2026. The dates of the capacity year will not change.

The changes do not affect the 18^th Forward Capacity Auction (FCA 18), scheduled for February 2024 and covering the 2027/2028 capacity year.

In a November 2023 filing seeking approval for the delay, the ISO and NEPOOL cited time needed to complete the Resource Capacity Accreditation (RCA) project. FCA 19 will be the first auction to include the capacity accreditation changes developed through the RCA project. The project aims to account for the unique attributes of the resources that will make up the future grid and accurately measure each resource’s contribution to system reliability.