This summer, the Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB) hosted two Shultz Energy fellows from Stanford University to investigate the forward contracting practices of electric utilities in the West. Knowledge and understanding of the purpose and practice of electric utility forward contracting is important in many public policy contexts, including the design and performance of organized wholesale electricity markets, of regional resource adequacy programs, and of regional greenhouse gas accounting and reporting programs. The students highlighted the goals and objectives of utility forward contracting, describing the risk management policies and procedures that guide and limit the utility contracting to better understand ongoing and potential changes to forward contracting that could result in improved performance of organized wholesale electricity markets, regional resource adequacy, or regional greenhouse gas accounting and reporting programs.
The Stanford University 2023 Shultz Energy fellows were:
- Jack Rehnborg, Master of Science in Earth Systems, Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering at Stanford
- Alan Zenagui, 1st year Master in Atmosphere/Energy at Stanford University
On August 30 and August 31, 2023 the fellows conducted webinars to share their research findings and provide recommendations on incremental policy steps.
A copy of the slides is available HERE.