A recent decision has found that the market for Operating Reserve (OR) in Ontario is sufficiently competitive.
A condition of both the IESO and Ontario Power Generation licenses requires a bid-cap agreement that governs the way that OPG offers its resources into the Operating Reserve market, unless the IESO determines that a competitive market for any category of operating reserves exists.
A recent review by the IESO concluded that this agreement is no longer required as the OR markets are effectively competitive at this time. Changes in Ontario’s supply mix have broadened the composition of OR supply since the bid-cap agreement was first put in place at market opening. The agreement terminated on December 31, 2013.