Panel discussion : contract design

This session presented highlights of the comments of 8 panelists who discussed the issue of contract design. The new electricity market in Ontario has introduced the energy trader, who enters into a contract with the consumer, based on the spot price set by the Independent Electricity Market Operator. Every contract has a fixed price payer as well as floating-price payers. If the floating price for a given amount of energy is higher than the fixed price, then the consumer gets the difference. Confusion, however, arises with the purchase of retail physical power in the market, particularly in deciding a fixed rate that the consumer will be paying. Different billing options were also discussed with emphasis on mid to large retail customers that have portfolios in the tens of MW and up to 100 MW or more. figs