Taking the anti-FERC approach to the grid.
Vikram Janardhan is president of Global Energy Software. Ajit Kulkarni, Ph.D., is chief transmission officer of Global Energy Advisors. Narottam Aul is vice president, Asia-Pacific Region, at Global Energy Advisors. Ng Meng Poh is vice president-commercial at Senoko Power (Singapore) Ltd. Contact Janardhan at vjanardhan@globalenergy.com.
A common response to energy-market risk is a complex market infrastructure, with significant administrative effort and cost dedicated to managing the risks and ensuring that the market functions in a transparent and effective manner. But is market complexity a necessary byproduct of competitive markets? Must all electricity markets be burdened with what we in the United States have come to accept—bid-based regimes, multi-part bidding, locational-marginal pricing, financial transmission rights, ancillary services co-optimization, day-ahead and real-time markets, complex price caps, virtual bidding products, or capacity markets? Are all of these market instruments really necessary to ensure fair and open access to electric transmission lines?