Section 6 Ancillary Services

IFM Procurement and Prices

Table 6.1 hows the monthly IFM average ancillary service procurements and Table 6.2 the monthly average prices. In January the monthly average procurement increased for regulation down, spinning and non-spinning reserves. The monthly average prices decreased for regulation down, spinning and non-spinning reserves this month.

Table 6.1: IFM Monthly Average Ancillary Service Procurement
Month Dec-2020 Jan-2021 Percent Change
Regulation_Up 430 420 2.38%
Regulation_Down 668 707 -5.52%
Spin 929 974 -4.62%
Non-Spin 929 974 -4.62%
Table 6.2: IFM Monthly Average Ancillary Service Price
Month Dec-2020 Jan-2021 Percent Change
Non-Spin $0.11 $0.13 -20.4%
Regulation_Down $13.94 $11.87 17.4%
Regulation_Up $9.61 $5.88 63.5%
Spin $3.84 $2.35 63.2%

Figure 6.1 shows the daily IFM average ancillary service prices. On January 30, the average prices for regulation up and regulation down were elevated driven by high opportunity cost of energy.

Figure 6.1: IFM (Day-Ahead) Ancillary Service Average Price

IFM (Day-Ahead) Ancillary Service Average Price

Scarcity Events

The ancillary services scarcity pricing mechanism is triggered when the ISO is not able to procure the target quantity of one or more ancillary services in the IFM and real-time market runs. The scarcity events in January are shown in the Table 6.3 below, which are all in the real-time market.

Table 6.3: Ancillary Service Scarcity Events
Date Hour Ending Interval Ancillary Service Region Shortfall Percentage of requirement
Jan-02 1 1 Regulation Down SP26_EXP 0.96 0.50%
Jan-04 8 2 Regulation Down SP26_EXP 1.26 0.40%
Jan-06 8 2 Regulation Down SP26_EXP 1.27 0.40%
Jan-06 10 1 Regulation Down SP26_EXP 0.36 0.10%
Jan-06 10 2,4 Regulation Down SP26_EXP 2.36 0.60%
Jan-22 10 1,2,3,4 Regulation Up SP26_EXP 2.03 0.80%
Jan-24 10 4 Regulation Up SP26_EXP 4.95 2.00%
Jan-27 13 4 Regulation Up SP26_EXP 2.33 1.10%
Jan-29 7 3 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.11 0.10%
Jan-29 8 1,2,4 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.53 0.20%
Jan-29 18 1 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.11 0.03%
Jan-29 18 3 Regulation Down CAISO_EXP 0.65 0.10%
Jan-29 20 4 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.30 0.20%
Jan-30 9 1 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.11 0.03%
Jan-30 9 3 Regulation Up SP26_EXP 2.26 1.30%
Jan-30 16 2, 3 Regulation Down CAISO_EXP 1.50 0.20%
Jan-30 16 2,3 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 0.84 0.20%
Jan-31 7 4 Regulation Down NP26_EXP 1.06 0.60%