Why capacity markets are the Fitbits of the electric utility industry

Abstract Expanding upon the findings of the 2017 General Accounting Office Review identifying the failure of FERC to develop methodologies to determine the efficacy of RTO electric capacity markets, this article explains in detail why it is likely that capacity markets structured only for the sale of bare megawatts to load-serving utilities through an auction capacity are as lacking as Fitbits are in providing a rounded picture of their users’ health. As currently constituted, capacity markets can never capture all relevant attributes that determine the types of generating resources constructed nor fully reconcile federal and state policies that concurrently affect development of generation.