NYISO on July 2 released its proposed changes to certain capacity market parameters to accommodate the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission project, as well as facilitate the new entry of resources.
The changes, presented to the Installed Capacity Working Group, would see NYISO developing two sets of market parameters for capability years where “triggering resources” did not enter the market by May, the first month of the ISO’s capability year.
This would mean that NYISO would use an alternative set of market parameters as the foundation of the market until the resource begins participating. The ISO would run two installed reserve margin (IRM) studies: one assuming the new resource (in this case CHPE) is in service, and one assuming it is not. This would create two sets of transmission security limit (TSL) floors, locational capacity requirements, capacity accreditation factors, system translation factors, unforced capacity demand curve parameters and load-serving entity minimum capacity requirements.
CHPE is a 1,250-MW HVDC line that will run between Quebec and New York City and is expected to go into service in 2026 — but the exact date is unknown. NYISO is keeping an eye on its progress, but it is worried it will be mistimed with the beginning of the capability year. Most of the ICAP market is predicated on annual inputs, with limited seasonality. CHPE’s entry would have major implications for the reliability parameters in the New York City zone.
While NYISO does not anticipate CHPE to shift the IRM, it does anticipate the TSL floor to increase by about 4%, which would impact “downstream” parameters.
NYISO is also proposing that notice requirements for new capacity resources be changed so they must achieve commercial operation prior to notifying the ISO that they intend to participate in the market. The ISO must receive the notification by the first business day of the month before the month the resource wants to qualify for participation. This would only apply to resources whose entry would change contingencies evaluating the transfer capability into a zone.
Stakeholders questioned the rigidity of the timing NYISO laid out, saying that it could possibly create a situation where the market parameters were acting under the assumption that a new resource was not participating when it was.
“If commercial operations start during the middle of June, that means that the resource wouldn’t be able to provide capacity until September,” one stakeholder said. “I’m having trouble understanding why you think this is an improvement.”
There was also some back and forth with Zach Smith, senior manager of capacity and resource integration for NYISO, about why changing the ICAP market parameters could not be moved more swiftly. Smith said that he would look into whether it was possible to increase the flexibility of the proposal.
Another stakeholder asked NYISO to make the forecasted commercial operation dates of resources like CHPE available to the market so they could plan for the shift in market parameters.
