17th Annual AAI Energy Roundtable

The first topic, “Grid Resiliency Policy – What it Means for Competition and Consumers,” will take up the issue of policy proposals that are designed to ensure the ability and flexibility of regional electricity markets to provide reliable sources of electricity, particularly in the event of major disruptions. Such policies have material implications for competition, innovation, and consumers. The panel will focus on how the constraints created by resiliency-motivated policies can change the structure of regional markets, change incentives to engage in pro-competitive or anti-competitive strategies by market participants, and possibly create barriers to entry. The discussion will focus on how regulatory policies around grid resiliency would complement or oppose the goals and benefits of competition.

The second topic, “Keeping Up With Vertical Competition Issues – Pipelines and Transmission,” will address current competitive issues involving integration between various parts of the electricity supply chain. This includes ownership of generation and transmission or natural gas pipelines. Vertical integration can create or change firms’ incentives to discriminate against or foreclose rivals from access to important inputs or distribution. Adverse effects can have material effects on consumers. Antitrust and regulation should make these issues a priority. The discussion will focus on regulatory developments and antitrust policy surrounding integration and its implications for competition and consumers.

The third topic, “Approaches to Assessing Market Power – Standards and Consistency,” will take up the issue of antitrust and regulatory approaches to identifying market power and assessing responses to the exercise of market power. The discussion will take up both merger review by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as well as non-merger conduct in electricity markets and such as capacity and energy. Consistency in assessing market power concerns across various areas of regulatory review (e.g., mergers and market based rates) is particularly important, as is coordination between regulatory and antitrust agencies.