Back On The Grid

PJM Is Dead

PJM is dead. Long live PJM. If you already know about capacity markets, skip to the secret ending at 26:15. Otherwise, hope you enjoy the episode! And to future me listening back - remember VRR curve for demand. Timestamps: * 00:00-Intro * 02:00-Hello and Goodbye * 03:10-Fundamentals Start Here * 05:10-Restructuring the Market * 06:15-Basic NERC Reliability Standard * 07:15-Market Power and Price Caps * 10:00-Probability of Reliable Capacity (ICAP, ELCC, UCAP) * 12:00-Balancing payment with penalties * 13:00-Data Centers * 17:45-Renewables and Capacity * 18:00-Epilogue * 22:40-Complications in Responsibility * 24:00-PJM IS DEAD, Long Live PJM * 25:10-Capacity Markets are All Made Up * 26:15-Secret ending Suggested reading: * Analysis of the 2026/2027 RPM Base Residual Auction [https://www.monitoringanalytics.com/reports/Reports/2025/IMM_Analysis_of_the_20262027_RPM_Base_Residual_Auction_Part_A_20251001.pdf] (October, 2025) For reliability standards - look up EUE; LOLH; and LOLE all coming together for risk. Bidding rules - look up MOPR for old utilities that owned a lot of generation but had a ton of customer demand, so they underbid their capacity to distort the price and save money on consumer purchases. For accreditation - look up EFORd and ELCC will probably be changed in the future, so check out slice of day vs seasonal vs marginal and so on.

Electricity Sector Changes since 2016

Nuclear fusion, space-based solar, and other cool changes are on the horizon. But what has stayed the same over the past decade? This short reflection is the last episode of the show before I graduate with my masters focused on the electric power industry.  Timestamps: * 0:00-Intro * 00:30-Nuclear Fusion vs SMRs * 01:30-Natural Hydrogen * 02:15-Solar Power From Space * 03:50-Selling Electricity Directly to your Neighbors * 05:30-AI challenges are new but also old * 07:30-Transmission * 08:15-Markets and Resilience * 09:15-Concluding Thoughts * 11:00-Secret Hidden Extras Let me know how the electricity sector has changed since you started following/working/studying the sector. Episode comments are enabled on Spotify or find me on Twitter or Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/backonthegrid.bsky.social Extras referenced at the end: * My paper on a small part of PJM’s Capacity Market [https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/items/f7bbcbf7-4599-4a72-aa00-6a4883260331 ] * Building Energy Paper [https://github.com/climatetracecoalition/methodology-documents/blob/main/2024/Buildings/Building%20Sector%20Methodology%20draft2024.docx.pdf]

EPSA Lawsuit and Demand Response Market Manipulation

Is Demand Response a wholesale electricity sale? Not really under the FPA. But should it allowed to bid into wholesale markets? This week we'll explore EPSA, a supreme court case that decided federal authority over DR participating in wholesale electricity markets. Background to start, but for juicy parts on EPSA, skip to Scalia's dissent around 5 mins into this episode. Market manipulation discussed at 14 mins. Bigger summary at 16:30. Timestamps below. Topics covered include: legal no man's land for fed vs state authority, should DR receive full LMP, and how can companies manipulate their demand response payments? Also covers FERC Orders 719 and 745. Timestamps: * 00:00-Intro * 03:00-Wholesale Markets as Drug Dealers * 04:30-Who is EPSA? * 5:00-EPSA Dissent from Scalia * 07:25-Legal Precedents * 12:15-EPSA Summary * 12:50-LMP minus G (doesn't make sense!) * 14:00-DR Market Manipulation Example * 16:30-Wholesale DR the last 20 Years Sources: 1. Demand Response Market Manipulation Case in MISO (2024): ⁠https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nipsco-linde-ferc-miso-demand-response-settlement/703888/⁠ [https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nipsco-linde-ferc-miso-demand-response-settlement/703888/] 2. EPSA Supreme Court Case full PDF (2016) ⁠https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/577/14-840/case.pdf⁠ [https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/577/14-840/case.pdf] 3. Shoutout to the random bus that drove by during the opening seconds of my intro

Power Plant Retirements and Demand Response

Should power plants be allowed to retire whenever they want? And what the heck is demand response--wholesale, retail, or something else? This episode will start exploring reliability must run (RMR) power plant designations and touch on the Sierra Club's lawsuit focused on two coal power plants receiving RMR payments while not having their supply included in PJM's capacity market. Also, is the grid just a big sandwich shop when it comes to demand response? Tune in for a day ahead market vs real time showdown. Sources: (1) https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pjm-reliability-must-run-rmr-capacity-auction-ferc-complaint/728398/ [https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pjm-reliability-must-run-rmr-capacity-auction-ferc-complaint/728398/] (2) https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/energy-primer-2020_0.pdf [https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/energy-primer-2020_0.pdf ] Timestamps: * 00:30-Reliability Must Run (RMR) Power Plants * 09:15-Demand Response (DR) * 10:30-Electricity Markets as a sandwich shop * 15:00-Futures vs Spot Market for DR

Grid Scale Battery Storage

If the grid was Goldilocks, what type of battery would it want? This episode is a bit denser than usual and explores some basic differences between flow, iron-air, and lithium ion batteries; plus the basics of how batteries participate in markets. Also covers some technical stuff towards the end. Listen at your own peril--you may become a flow stan. Timestamps: * 00:00-Intro * 01:00-What Type of Energy Storage is Best? * 02:23-Long Duration Storage vs Short Duration Storage * 04:00-Flow Batteries * 05:50-Issues with Flow Batteries * 08:00-What is Grid Scale Storage Used For? * 10:25-How are batteries regulated? Who knows! * 11:30-Lithium Ion Batteries for the Grid * 12:31-Technical Notes * 15:00-Salton Sea * 15:50-Future BESS References: * CAISO Report on Battery Storage Market Participation https://www.caiso.com/documents/2023-special-report-on-battery-storage-jul-16-2024.pdf [https://www.caiso.com/documents/2023-special-report-on-battery-storage-jul-16-2024.pdf] * Redox Flow vs Li-ion Batteries https://energy.sandia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/6_Wittman_Reed_SNL_WIPSC_Session5_6-23-21.pdf [https://energy.sandia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/6_Wittman_Reed_SNL_WIPSC_Session5_6-23-21.pdf ] * 2024 EIA Update On Grid-Scale Battery Use https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=62405 [https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=62405 ] * Nanoparticle Flow Batteries - https://spectrum.ieee.org/flow-battery-2666672335 [https://spectrum.ieee.org/flow-battery-2666672335 ] * Form Energy Specs - https://formenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Form-Energy-Navigating-the-Pacific-Northwest-Energy-Challenges-06.26.2024-1.pdf [https://formenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Form-Energy-Navigating-the-Pacific-Northwest-Energy-Challenges-06.26.2024-1.pdf]