Ancillary services are those functions performed by the equipment and people that generate, control, and transmit electricity in support of the basic services of generating capacity, energy supply, and power delivery. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) defined such services as those...

In competitive electricity markets, the costs for each ancillary service should be charged to those who cause the costs to be incurred with charges based on the factors that contribute to these costs. For example, the amount of generating capacity assigned to the regulation service is a function...

California's recently enacted Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS, Senate Bill 1078) requires the state's investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to increase the renewable portion of their energy mix, with a goal of 20% renewable energy generation by 2017. Renewable generation projects will compete with...

Historically, decisions on the amounts, locations, types, and timing of investments in new generation have been made by vertically integrated utilities with approval from state public utility commissions. As the U.S. electricity industry is restructured, these decisions are being fragmented and...