Ontario’s electricity development industry is not likely to bring forward the best possible options for the province’s power system until there is a resolution of the IESO’s Resource Adequacy engagement process, APPrO has warned.
In a letter submitted to the IESO on March 26, APPrO President David Butters said, “A robust electricity system requires ongoing investment to maintain existing assets and build new assets.” The letter focused on the message that “APPrO believes that the re-initiation the Resource Adequacy consultation should be an immediate priority for the IESO in order to provide the necessary clarity for owners and prospective investors who will be required to meet Ontario’s unique short-term and long-term resource needs, and in a way that fairly balances the allocation of risk between ratepayers and generators.”
The IESO had invited comments on its Draft Design of the March 2021 Capacity Auction. Mr. Butters noted that the Capacity Auction (“CA”, previously the Transitional Capacity Auction or “TCA”) was intended by the IESO to be an intermediate procurement mechanism to enable the IESO to manage Ontario’s nearer term capacity requirements until implementation of the Incremental Capacity Auction (“ICA”). The ICA was shelved in July 2019 and no replacement has been developed.
Since that time it has been expected that the Resource Adequacy stakeholder engagement process would be central to the development of the more permanent capacity procurement mechanism. The stakeholder engagement process was placed on hold in January 2020 and is now delayed for an undetermined period of time.