Webinar: Electricity Market Visions to Support a Reliable and Affordable Electric Grid under Electricity Decarbonization

Featured Speakers: Rob Gramlich, President, Grid Strategies; Kelli Joseph, Senior Fellow, Electricity Market Design and Clean Energy Transition, World Resources Institute; Jacob Mays, Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University; Ryan Schoppe, Senior Technical Leader – Electricity Markets, EPRI; Erik Ela, Director of System Operations and Market Design, ESIG

Moderator: Robin Hytowitz, Market Evolution for 100% Clean Electricity Task Force Chair

Webinar Abstract: As the electric grid continues to evolve and the mix of electricity suppliers moves toward one where there are clean, emissions-free suppliers, opportunities and challenges arise, including the challenges of maintaining reliability and affordability.  Organized electricity markets can play a key role in that future, and if designed well, could  lead to the incentives necessary for technology innovation, appropriate investments, reliable operational behavior, and protection from volatile outcomes. ESIG recently completed a report sharing “electricity market visions to support a reliable and affordable electric grid under electricity decarbonization,” a result of a task force focused on possible changes to the markets that could allow for reliability and affordability under future scenarios, such as those with 100% clean electricity share. The “visions” report shared the key challenges with clean electricity scenarios, such as resource adequacy, short-term operational reliability, infrastructure, price formation, and technology neutral efficient clean energy incentives. The visions included shared views on topics of short-term energy markets, technology neutral participation models, and ways to encourage more responsive demand. It also included views with unique, sometimes differing views on topics such as resource adequacy incentives, hedging, and the level of coordination between market operators and governments. This webcast will share the key findings of this report with the lead authors covering different sections, as well as a robust question and answer discussion.

About the Speakers:

Rob Gramlich is President of Grid Strategies LLC, a Washington DC-based consultancy focused on transmission and power markets for a reliable, affordable, and sustainable power system.  He co-founded  Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT Coalition), Advancing Modern Powerlines, the Macro Grid Initiative, and the Future Power Markets Forum. Rob has been invited to testify by both parties before Congress, FERC, and state agencies. He has earned awards from FERC as Exemplar of Public Service, the Energy Systems Integration Group for contributions to market design and transmission planning, The Hill Magazine for lobbying, and the American Wind Energy Association for Technical Achievement.

Rob previously oversaw transmission and power market policy for the American Wind Energy Association as SVP and Interim CEO, served as Economic Advisor to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III, and was Senior Economist at PJM Interconnection.

Rob has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from UC Berkeley and a BA with Honors in Economics from Colby College.

Dr. Kelli Joseph works at the intersection of policy and markets, focusing on the reliable transition of the energy sector. She is an expert on electricity market design, electricity regulatory policy, utility rate design, power system economics, and gas/electric system coordination. Previous work includes Grid and Market Operations at the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the Energy and Extractives practice at the World Bank, and market strategy across the U.S. organized wholesale power markets. Currently, Dr. Joseph works in climate risk and renewable energy finance credit risk at a regional commercial bank, is a Senior Fellow in Electricity Market Design at WRI and a recent Senior Fellow with the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Kelli participated in the NARUC-NASEO Task Force on 21^st Century Electricity System Planning as an invited expert, served on the Board of Directors of several electricity industry associations and start-ups, and is an invited participant in various forums dedicated to thinking about electricity market design challenges through the energy transition.

Jacob Mays is an Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. His research focuses on applications of stochastic optimization and statistical learning in energy systems. Jacob holds an AB in chemistry and physics from Harvard University, an MEng in energy systems from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a PhD in industrial engineering and management sciences from Northwestern University.

Ryan Schoppe, P.E. is an electrical engineer with 13 years of experience in a variety of roles including EMS network modeling and application support, market analysis and testing, market design, and R&D. He was with the Southwest Power Pool for over a decade and has been with EPRI for the past two years. Ryan has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Louisiana Tech University and is working towards completing a Master’s degree in applied economics. He is a member of EPRI’s Program 246 on Electricity Markets where he conducts research on future electricity markets and helps organize working groups and stakeholder meetings.

Erik Ela is Director of System Operations and Market Design at ESIG, where he is responsibility for the activities of the group that pertain to integrating emerging technologies and systems within power system operations and electricity market operations. He provides technical leadership in several areas including electricity market design and operations, renewable energy and emerging technology integration, bulk power system operations, operations and market software, frequency control and essential reliability services, electricity policy and regulation, and generation planning. Erik also supports EPRI where he had previously introduced the Electricity Markets Research Program and the collaborative forum of North American ISOs and RTOs. He has also worked for several years at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and New York ISO. Dr. Ela received Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD Degrees in Electrical Engineering.

Dr. Robin Broder Hytowitz recently joined the Electric Power Research Institute as the Program Lead for Wholesale Electricity Markets. She focuses on wholesale market design and operations, renewable integration, and resilience. Previously, Robin was an Energy Market Advisor at NextEra Analytics, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. She supported market strategy for a range of utility-scale assets, including hybrid and co-located batteries, and helped advance DERMS and VPP software products. She has also worked in the Office of Energy Policy and Innovation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Robin holds a doctoral degree in energy engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Registration Cost: FREE

Q&A Session: We will be using the Slido platform for Q&A. Please submit your questions and follow-along during the event at this link.