January’s cold weather resulted in a sharp increase in natural gas and power prices in the first quarter, PJM’s Independent Market Monitor reported.

PJM’s Market Implementation Committee approved manual revisions reducing the number of virtual bidding locations by almost 90%.

FERC ordered RTOs and ISOs to submit monthly reports detailing their uplift payments and operator-initiated commitments.

PJM that its generation fleet performed much better in this New Year’s January cold snap than during the 2014 polar vortex.

FERC rejected a key part of PJM’s controversial proposal to reallocate uplift costs, saying it had failed to justify its plan to begin charging UTC transactions.

PJM released a proposal for revising price formation rules in its energy markets, which staff estimate could increase market costs by as much as $1.4 B.

PJM’s markets were competitive in the first nine months of the year, the Independent Market Monitor found in its quarterly State of the Market Report.

FERC found that MISO did not adequately comply with its directives in Order 831, which stipulated changes to the RTO's hard and soft offer cap processes.

FERC approved SPP’s operating reserves proposal but said the RTO should respond to criticism about scarcity pricing avoidance.

The PJM Independent Market Monitor and other critics say the alternative the RTO proposed to the DOE NOPR would also be expensive and undermine the markets.