Demand Response Auction
The Transitional Capacity Auction (TCA) will replace the existing Demand Response Auction to enable competition between additional resource types starting December 2019. For further details (including auction timelines, contributor management and measurements data submission timelines, and pre- and post- auction reports), please refer to Meeting Ontario’s Capacity Needs: 2020-2024 engagement page.
The IESO’s annual DR Auction provides a transparent and cost-effective way to select the most competitive providers of DR, while ensuring that all providers are held to the same performance obligations.
The DR Auction occurs annually starting on the first Wednesday of December.
There are a number of timelines organizations must adhere to in order to take part in the DR Auction.
What do I need to do to participate in DR Auction?
Organizations must become authorized as Demand Response Auction Participants (DRAPs) to take part in the DR Auction. Applications must be submitted at least 40 days before the start of the auction. Once authorized, DRAPs can participate in all subsequent auctions.
What happens before the DR Auction?
Two months prior to the start of the offer submission window for the DR Auction, the IESO will publish the Pre-Auction Report.
The Pre-Auction Report includes the following information for each commitment period:
- Key Milestone Dates, including submission of capacity qualification documents, payment of auction deposit, and date of auction
- Target Capacity
- Maximum and Minimum Clearing Prices
- Capacity Limits
- Zonal Constraints
See the most current Pre-Auction Report (available on the IESO Public Reports site).
What happens during the DR Auction?
The IESO will process all submitted demand response auction offers, determine clearing price and quantities. The results will be published in the Post-Auction Report which includes the following for each commitment period:
- DR Auction clearing price
- Amount of MW cleared for each electrical zone
- List of successful DRAPs and their DR capacity obligations
- Qualified demand response capacity, by participant
See the most current Post-Auction Report (available on the IESO Public Reports site).
What happens post DR Auction?
Following the auction, the successful participants will be required to become authorized as Demand Response Market Participants (DRMPs), which will enable them to register resources to deliver on their DR Capacity Obligations. The participants will receive availability payments for providing DR Capacity, subject to non-performance charges.