Electricity Market Structure and Infrastructure Conference on Acting in Time on Energy

A key challenge for electricity market design and regulation is to support efficient investment in infrastructure. A review of the transition in the electricity system provides a foundation and framework for an agenda for action, primarily at the Federal level. Examples of resource adequacy and transmission investment illustrate a key requirement to relate any proposed policies to the larger framework and to ask for alternatives that better support or are complementary to the market design. Many seemingly innocuous decisions appear isolated and limited, but on closer inspection are fundamentally incompatible with and undermine the larger framework. A workable regulatory and market framework is an essential tool for anticipating unintended consequences and acting in time.