Rethinking the Role of FTR for Renewables

In the United States, most wind power capacity has been deployed in the wind-rich central region. Transmission congestion within this large region causes spatial variation in wholesale power prices—called the basis—that can unpredictably reduce wind plant revenue and, hence, possibly slow deployment. We use historical pricing and generation data from three central U.S. markets to show that wind plants are more-susceptible than thermal generators to congestion-related basis risk. Moreover, while most thermal generators can effectively hedge any basis risk by purchasing conventional financial transmission rights (FTRs), these fixed-volume FTRs are not a good match for variable wind generation. More-effective hedging mechanisms—for example, an FTR whose volume varies with wind plant output—may be required to support those generators most-impacted by congestion, and to promote continued investment in variable generation resources in congested markets.