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Electricity Roundtable: Exploring Future Market Design in Alberta

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The School of Public Policy will be hosting a Webinar on March 31st to discuss Alberta’s electricity market. This webinar will have a panel discussion, and be followed by an interactive Q&A with virtual attendees.

Alberta’s electricity market remains in a state of flux. Changes in government have brought with them changes in policy direction. In making the decision to end the capacity market process, the new government also directed the AESO to “take a measured and thoughtful pace to examine if any changes to the existing energy-only market are needed”. The AESO is to provide the Minister with “analysis and recommendations on whether changes are needed to the price floor/ceiling and shortage pricing in Alberta’s energy-only market”. This report is due to the Minister by July 31, 2020.

Some of the specific questions to be discussed include:

• Should the AESO change the price cap, offer cap and price floor? If so, what guides these levels and what impacts might we expect?
• Should the AESO consider administratively-set scarcity pricing, as per ERCOT?
• Should the AESO consider alternative reliability mechanisms, including longer-term energy contracting?

Panelists: 

·       Sonia Aggarwal, Energy Innovations

·       Cheryl Lafleur, former FERC commissioner

·       Jacob Mays, Cornell University

·       Frank Wolak, Stanford University

Moderators:

·       Sara Hastings-Simon, University of Calgary

·       Blake Shaffer, University of Calgary