Who Should Attend:
Anyone who works with electricity markets or is interested in market economics and institutional design.
Overview:
U.S. wholesale electricity markets are complex, technically demanding systems. If your work interacts with these markets, then you need to understand their design, drivers, and idiosyncrasies. This two-day boot camp provides a structured introduction to U.S. electricity markets, covering independent system operators and regional transmission organizations (ISOs/RTOs) and non-RTO regions.
This boot camp will guide you through the economic logic, institutional structures, and operational challenges that shape price formation, investment incentives, and system reliability in the electricity sector.
Objectives:
- Identify the economic and technical characteristics that make electricity markets distinct from other commodity markets.
- Recognize price formation and investment drivers in vertically integrated utility systems.
- Explain the merit-order curve and the role of marginal generation in ISO price discovery.
- Understand the intuition and calculation underlying locational marginal pricing (LMP).
- Describe the characteristics and cost structures of major generation types on the U.S. grid.
- Compare day-ahead, real-time, reliability, and ancillary services dispatch.
- Understand the purpose of capacity markets and the differing capacity approaches across regions.
- Compare hedging instruments, including virtual bids, financial transmission rights, and commodity futures.
- Identify sources of market failure or structural weakness.
- Discuss emerging resources and their impacts on market outcomes.
- Evaluate demand-side stressors on electricity systems.
- Identify key data sources and research resources for market analysis.
Instructor:
Suzanne Stradling, Consultant, GDS Associates
Fees:
Utility Member Early Bird (ends 08/29/2026): $1,800
Utility Member Standard: $1,900
Associate Member Early Bird (ends 08/29/2026): $2,700
Associate Member Standard: $2,800
Non-Member Early Bird (ends 08/29/2026): $3,600
Non-Member Standard: $3,700
Canadian utility members, please contact registration@nwppa.org for pricing and to register.
Organizations that register a group of employees will receive every fifth registration for free. For example, if you register five employees, you only pay for four; register 10 employees, you only pay for eight; and so on. There is nothing additional you need to do to receive this discount.
Cancellation Policy
For in-person events, cancellations at least 30 days prior to the event will receive a full refund; within 15–29 days there will be a $100 fee; and within 1–14 days or no show, the charge will be 100% of the registration fee.
When possible, please send a substitute instead of canceling. NWPPA does not charge a fee for substitutions. To request a refund, please contact us at registration@nwppa.org.
Continuing Hours
This course qualifies for 12 continuing hours. Certificates are issued upon full completion of the course.