The Future of Wholesale Electricity Markets in a Decarbonizing System

Wholesale electricity markets were designed at a time when coal-fired power plants supplied the majority of the electrical energy across the country and natural gas was the cleaner, more flexible, but also more costly fuel of the future. The markets were meant to harness the power of competition to cost effectively deliver reliable power, and they have largely delivered on this promise for the past twenty years. Fast forward to today, costs for onshore and offshore wind, solar, and battery storage are plummeting and, not coincidentally, policies increasingly call for decarbonization of the power system in short order. The question of the day is whether electricity market design can adapt to this changing dynamic and if so, what it should look like in the future. The debate rages and no clear answers have risen to the top as of yet. This talk will introduce a number of current challenges facing electricity market design in a decarbonizing system, with a particular focus on the New England market, and the opportunities for solutions to be developed.

BIO: Abigail Krich founded Boreas Renewables, LLC in 2008, a consulting practice serving renewable energy developers, owners, operators, and advocates including RENEW Northeast. Abby specializes in helping developers navigate their way through the ISO New England interconnection process, participate in the Forward Capacity Market, and register to sell into the New England wholesale electricity markets. She works with owners and operators to understand how existing and upcoming market rules and compliance requirements factor into their day-to-day operations. In addition to following the evolving markets, Abby actively advocates within NEPOOL and ISO New England for electricity market rules and system planning that will allow for the development and integration of high levels of renewable energy. Abby currently serves as vice chair of the NEPOOL Variable Resource Working Group. Prior to forming Boreas Renewables, Abby was a Senior Project Developer at Tamarack Energy. She holds a Master's of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering (’06) and a Bachelor of Science in Biological and Environmental Engineering (’04), both from Cornell University.