Commissioner James Danly Statement
March 28, 2023
Docket No. ER23-1465-000
I concur with this order delaying Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (MISO) 2023/24 Planning Resource Auction but write separately to express my concerns about the consequences of today’s order and the overall health of the markets. The purpose of our capacity auctions is to establish price signals to ensure sufficient capacity to maintain resource adequacy at just and reasonable rates. To deliver on that promise, every change to capacity market rules must be deliberate and prospective, and every rule, once established, must be adhered to. To do otherwise is to throw into jeopardy the very mechanics upon which market participants rely to make decisions. Every delay in every auction (no matter how minor) undermines participants’ confidence in the markets, as does every waiver of every tariff provision (no matter how minor) designed to ensure the markets’ orderly administration.
These general observations apply to all of our markets, not just MISO. While it is evident that this auction’s delay is necessary (thus, I concur), there is no excuse for the markets to violate their tariffs or make the kind of errors that require today’s order. If the market administrators are not equal to the challenge set before them, we need to divest them of their responsibilities. The Commission cannot sit on its hands forever as our markets fail before our eyes. Eventually someone must file a Federal Power Act section 206[1] complaint against them to restore our markets to working order.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] 16 U.S.C. § 824e.