PJM warns FERC against tweaking RPM

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - PJM doesn't want to see the performance of its Reliability Pricing Model (RPM) capacity market move to a FERC technical conference that a group of buyers in the market asked the commission to set up.

The RTO is doing its own evaluation of the RPM - an independent consultant was hired to study it - and the RTO wants to take more time than the RPM buyers would have FERC spend, said PJM.

The RPM buyers include over 20 state commissions, consumers' counsels, Duquesne Light, co-ops and a group of federal agencies. They want FERC to take a hard look at the RPM markets that they say have deviated substantially from buyer's projections and PJM's simulations.

Consumers through 2011 will have to pay an extra $26 billion in costs without the benefit of significant capacity additions.

The four auctions held thus far haven't had the three-years of planning envisioned in the RPM - and that will only happen at the next auction, said PJM.

That auction will mark the first reasonable chance for new entry to meaningfully take part and should be looked at in any review of the RPM's performance.

The market has only been in place one-year and rushing to an immediate technical conference then to get new rules in place by June 1 isn't enough time, said the RTO.

Any changes to RPM structure will likely be highly contested and making those decisions hastily would only hurt the decision-making process at FERC and among stakeholders.

Market participants signed deals for capacity in the 2008 to 2009 delivery year that starts June 1 and changing the market at this point would only raise equity concerns, damage the credibility of FERC decisions on market rules and adversely affect long-term reliability, said PJM.