ISO-NE’s wholesale electricity and capacity markets were competitive in 2018

The 2018 Annual Markets Report, issued by the Internal Market Monitor at ISO New England, concluded that New England’s wholesale power markets were competitive in 2018. The report notes that the total cost of wholesale electricity markets was $12.1 billion in 2018, which represents an increase of about 32% over 2017. Of the total, energy costs rose 34% to $6 billion. The energy increase was driven by higher natural gas prices, particularly during winter, and higher power demand during a hot and humid summer. Capacity costs rose by $1.4 billion to $3.6 billion, reflecting higher clearing prices in the eighth and ninth Forward Capacity Auctions after a spate of generator retirements. Capacity costs will begin to decline after June 2019, reflecting the entry of new resources and a higher capacity surplus. Regional network load costs were $2.3 billion to pay for the use of transmission facilities and other services. The costs for reliability services such as operating reserve, regulation and net commitment period compensation, totaled about $200 million in 2018.