16th Annual Energy Roundtable

The AAI marks its 16th Annual Energy Roundtable by gathering experts in antitrust and regulation from government, industry, advocacy, and academia to discuss major competition policy issues involving electricity and energy. The 2016 Energy Roundtable “Taking Stock of Wholesale Electricity Competition: Lessons from Two Decades of Restructuring” will focus on taking stock of competition after two decades of restructuring in U.S. wholesale electricity markets. Our objective is to identify the major areas where the goals of fostering competition and consumer benefits — while ensuring reliability of the electricity supply — have been furthered (or frustrated), and to identify enforcement and policy priorities moving forward.

In April of 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued landmark Orders 888 and 889. These were the first major initiatives designed to create an “access” regime for transmission, with the intention of creating markets and promoting competition. Since then, much has happened. FERC has continued to promote competition through, among other initiatives, Regional Transmission Organizations, transmission planning and cost allocation proposals, codes of conduct, interconnection standards, market transparency initiatives, and the analysis of market power.

At the same time, regulators have attempted to address myriad issues relating to market design and outcomes, including pricing, monitoring for the exercise of market power, and incentives for entry. All of this has occurred against the backdrop of national and state policies for achieving greater energy efficiency and carbon reduction. These developments have brought into sharp focus the contrast between the role of market entrants with innovative business models and disruptive technologies and incumbent legacy players.

The morning will open with the traditional Year in Review, followed by a moderated panel and roundtable Is Wholesale Electricity Competition Delivering on the Promise? Taking the Temperature of Markets, Suppliers, and Consumers. A keynote luncheon address will segue into the afternoon panel and roundtable Reassessing the “Divides” in Wholesale Competition: Centralized v. Decentralized Markets, Antitrust v. Regulation, and State v. Federal.