IESO Announces Results of Demand Response Auction
December 13, 2018
The results of the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) fourth demand response (DR) auction shows continued growth in consumer participation and significant decreases in cost.
The auction is an annual competitive process through which participating residential, commercial and industrial consumers are selected to be available to reduce their electricity consumption as needed. Successful DR providers compete in the electricity market along with generators to help maintain the reliability of the province's electricity system.
This year, 38 organizations were registered as auction participants, the highest number since the auction began in 2015. The successful proponents included four new participants who represent a mix of commercial and industrial consumers.
The average annual clearing price for availability payments of $52,810/MW represents a 30% decrease from last year, and a 42% decrease since the first auction in 2015. The auction cleared 818 megawatts (MW) for the 2019 summer commitment period and 854 MW for the 2019/2020 winter commitment period.
Moving in to its fourth year, the auction has been established as a valuable and reliable tool for the IESO to secure capacity on the system. Decreasing prices year-over-year demonstrates the ongoing maturity of the demand response market as more consumers participate and competition increases. Lower capacity prices benefit all Ontario consumers, while auction participants benefit by offsetting their energy costs and improving their competitiveness.
As the electricity system moves towards competitive electricity auctions under IESO’s Market Renewal project, the participation of consumers providing demand response will increase competition leading to overall lower prices for Ontario consumers.
The full list of this year’s successful participants is as follows:
|
Participant |
Summer Capacity Cleared [MW] |
Winter Capacity Cleared [MW] |
|---|---|---|
|
CPOWER ENERGY MANAGEMENT CORPORATION |
11.6 |
14.1 |
|
DIRECT ENERGY MARKETING LIMITED |
11 |
14 |
|
ENERNOC LTD. |
216.3 |
203.4 |
|
GC PROJECT LP |
20.1 |
19.1 |
|
GERDAU AMERISTEEL CORPORATION |
72 |
72 |
|
GERDAU AMERISTEEL CORPORATION -CAMBRIDGE |
2.4 |
2.4 |
|
IVACO ROLLING MILLS 2004 L.P. |
25 |
25 |
|
NRG CURTAILMENT SOLUTIONS CANADA, INC. |
143.5 |
143.5 |
|
NRSTOR C&I L.P. |
2.4 |
21.8 |
|
PEAK POWER INC. |
|
1 |
|
RESOLUTE FP CANADA INC. |
28 |
28 |
|
RODAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC |
201.7 |
203.1 |
|
TEMBEC ENTERPRISES INC. |
40 |
40 |
|
VOLTUS ENERGY CANADA LTD |
44.4 |
66.8 |
|
Total |
818.4 |
854.2 |
Additional information about the auction is available on Demand Response Auction webpage.
More information regarding technical difficulties experienced this year and a quick refresher on the treatment of zonal limits in the auction mechanism can be found here.
The next DR auction will be held in December 2019, for delivery of DR capacity for summer 2020 and winter 2020/2021. Through the Demand Response Working Group, the IESO will continue to evolve demand response as it shifts to more competitive ways to secure capacity.
More information about Market Renewal can be found at Electricity Market of Tomorrow webpage.