Calpine has proposed that NYISO split its 24-hour-only transmission congestion contracts into on-peak and off-peak products, arguing it would reduce the cost of congestion hedging by better aligning it with load and generation behavior. 

“We are asking for this to help us manage our risk [and] the renewables sector — solar and wind generators — to manage their risk,” Jung Suh, manager of ISO analytics for Calpine, said at the Budget Priorities Working Group meeting May 19. “All of the benefits from this will benefit the consumer, the ratepayer and the end user.” 

TCCs allow generators to hedge the congestion component of their output. Suh said this was especially important for intermittent resources because of their varying load profiles. Wind and solar power do not and cannot operate at maximum capacity with perfect predictability, which makes more precise hedging preferable, Suh explained. 

NYISO is the only grid operator not to offer time-granulated financial transmission rights. Suh argued that offering such rights could increase TCC auction revenue, increase market transparency and decrease the cost of hedging congestion. He said this would allow load-serving entities to fit the demand profile of their customers better. 

Howard Fromer of Bayonne Energy Center asked whether stakeholders had heard this presentation before. Suh said he gave the exact same presentation five years ago. 

“You were five years younger and five years better looking back then when I presented it,” Suh said. “It received the No. 1 ranking in the [project prioritization] survey five years ago.” 

“So it never got picked up by the ISO, is what you’re saying?” Fromer asked. “It was ranked, and ranked high, and it wasn’t pursued?” 

Another stakeholder chimed in that the ISO worked on it for a year before shelving the proposal. 

Several stakeholders supported the proposal. One said it would help them hedge flows between ISOs and help their renewables portfolio. Others said they strongly supported the proposal and hoped it got in the 2026 project prioritization list.

Project Prioritization: 2026

NYISO has identified 44 market projects for next year. Of those, five are mandatory projects, five are continuing projects for next year, and 22 are on the “prioritize” list for next year.  

The ISO will share its scoring of the projects on June 24 and send stakeholders their own survey to complete June 30. The stakeholder survey results should be in at the end of July, and a preliminary budget should be released by mid-August.  

“I think it would be useful … that when we list project prioritizations, the market participants understand which ones you are recommending,” said Doreen Saia, of Greenberg Traurig. “That could affect the list we see as part of project prioritization. Folks need to understand if they are waiving their choices.” 

Fromer asked about the Market Purchase Transaction Hub project, which is listed for deployment in 2026. He said that seemed strange, given that all of the work was done and all that was left was to turn it on. 

Kevin Pytel, director of product and project management for NYISO, said the market design was finished but the software still needed to be completed in order to get it to deployment, so it’s back on the table for the prioritization process.  

Kevin Lang, speaking on behalf of New York City, expressed confusion, asking why the project would have to be reconsidered after being prioritized multiple times and with the design complete. 

Pytel said implementation costs might change opinions as to what projects needed to be prioritized year to year. He showed a slide where the definitions of project milestones were listed. “Market Design Complete” is considered fairly mature but not quite ready to have software developed to implement it, for example.  

“Anything under the blue line that reaches that milestone in 2025 is automatically considered a continuing project for 2026,” Pytel said. “Functional Requirements is the first milestone; if you achieve that this year, you will be automatically considered continuing for next year.” 

Pytel said stakeholder feedback should be sent to his email by May 31 to be incorporated into the next prioritization presentation. May 30 is the deadline for stakeholders to identify new projects and have them included in the scoring survey.