Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to provide market participants a monthly summary of day-ahead and real-time markets performance for March, 2024. The key market performance highlights are presented here:
CAISO area performance:
Peak loads for ISO area decreased slightly in March compared to the previous month as temperatures remained low.
Across the integrated forward market (IFM), fifteen-minute market (FMM) and real-time dispatch market (RTD), default load aggregation point (DLAP) prices on average decreased compared to the previous month, correlated with falling natural gas prices. Prices remained volatile compared to the previous month. Prices were lower than the same month in the previous year.
The cumulative total congestion rent for interties in March increased to $1.91 million in March from $0 in the previous month.
In the congestion revenue rights (CRR) market, the balancing account had a surplus of approximately $3.53 million compared to $10.22 million in the previous month, which was allocated to measured demand.
The monthly IFM average procurement increased for regulation up, regulation down and spinning reserves, and decreased for non-spinning reserves compared to the previous month. The monthly IFM average prices increased for all ancillary services compared to the previous month.
The total bid cost recovery for March increased to $15.40 million from $11.98 million in the previous month.
The real-time imbalance energy offset costs increased to -$2.64 million in March from -$3.32 million in the previous month. The real-time congestion offset costs in March increased to $18.38 million from $6.34 million in the previous month.
The total volume of exceptional dispatch in March decreased to 51,900 MWh from 86,700 MWh in the previous month. The majority of the exceptional dispatch volumes in March were driven by voltage support (66.3 percent), planned transmission outage (16.9 percent) and conditions beyond the control of the CAISO (9.0 percent).
Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) performance:
In the FMM and RTD, ELAP prices in March decreased for all entities and were less volatile for most entities compared to the previous month.
The monthly average ELAP prices in FMM and RTD for WEIM entities and the difference between the two (FMM minus RTD) are shown in Table 1 below.
Bid cost recovery, real-time imbalance energy offset, and real-time imbalance congestion offset costs for WEIM entities were $0.89 million, $1.12 million and -$16.93 million, respectively.
| Month | WEIM | FMM ELAP Prices | RTD ELAP Prices | Price Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03 | AVA | $30.39 | $29.33 | $1.07 |
| 2024-03 | AVRN | $30.58 | $28.92 | $1.66 |
| 2024-03 | AZPS | $18.12 | $17.02 | $1.10 |
| 2024-03 | BANC | $31.35 | $29.96 | $1.40 |
| 2024-03 | BCHA | $48.76 | $47.89 | $0.88 |
| 2024-03 | BPAT | $30.20 | $28.31 | $1.89 |
| 2024-03 | EPE | $15.30 | $14.80 | $0.50 |
| 2024-03 | IPCO | $26.79 | $25.42 | $1.37 |
| 2024-03 | LADWP | $18.33 | $17.17 | $1.16 |
| 2024-03 | NEVP | $19.15 | $19.46 | -$0.31 |
| 2024-03 | NWMT | $29.30 | $28.38 | $0.92 |
| 2024-03 | PACE | $22.36 | $21.08 | $1.29 |
| 2024-03 | PACW | $30.13 | $28.45 | $1.69 |
| 2024-03 | PGE | $31.71 | $29.26 | $2.45 |
| 2024-03 | PNM | $17.87 | $17.72 | $0.16 |
| 2024-03 | PSEI | $30.64 | $29.05 | $1.59 |
| 2024-03 | SCL | $30.35 | $28.36 | $1.99 |
| 2024-03 | SRP | $14.44 | $16.63 | -$2.19 |
| 2024-03 | TEPC | $14.53 | $16.06 | -$1.53 |
| 2024-03 | TIDC | $33.37 | $31.41 | $1.96 |
| 2024-03 | TPWR | $30.98 | $29.20 | $1.78 |
| 2024-03 | WALC | $14.40 | $13.86 | $0.54 |