The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre will be hosting its 8th Annual Workshop on the Economics of Electricity Policy and Markets on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 in Toronto. The workshop brings together prominent scholars, practitioners and industry to share ideas and research on contemporary issues related to electricity policy, regulation and electricity markets with the goal of:
- Building a community of academics and practitioners who are active in electricity policy;
- Expanding the network of researchers in Canada with an interest in electricity markets and electricity polices and regulation; and,
- Fostering academic research that contributes to effective electricity policies and electricity market design.
Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Time: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Location: Ivey Donald K. Johnson Centre, 130 King St W, Toronto
Workshop Theme: Electricity Market Redesign: Timely change or lagged evolution?
After more than 20 years, Alberta and Ontario are set to make significant changes to their original wholesale market designs. The planned changes should better align the provinces with the standard design features already deployed in the United States’ restructured markets. Nova Scotia is proposing legislative amendments that would see the creation of an independent system operator and independent energy regulator, and a market restructuring to enable transparent competition for new generation. Nova Scotia also intends to introduce time-varying electricity rates like those in place in Ontario and Quebec. Concurrently, federal and provincial net-zero emission targets and global advances in consumer and producer energy technologies, foreshadow significant change to the future operations of bulk and distributive electrical grids. This workshop will explore the evolution of electricity market design in the face of net-zero polices and technological change, with a focus on Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.
The Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre gratefully acknowledges continued financial support from the Ivey Energy Consortium and Ted Kernaghan, HBA '65; as well as the following organizations for their financial support of this particular event: The Alberta Electric System Operator, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, The Canadian Association for Energy Economics, The Independent Electricity Systems Operator, Alberta’s Market Surveillance Administrator, and London Economics.
Current Agenda:
| Time | Function | Speaker |
| 7:45 a.m. | Registration Opens | |
| 8:00 a.m. | Continental Breakfast | |
| 8:45 a.m. | Introductory Remarks | Brian Rivard, Ivey Business School at Western University |
| 9:00 a.m. | Session 1: Redesigning Markets to Inform and Attract Investment |
Moderator: Brian Rivard, Ivey Business School at Western University Speakers: Peter Cramton, University of Maryland Darren Matsugu, IESO Vittoria Bellissimo, Canadian Renewable Energy Association |
| 10:30 a.m. | Morning Refreshments | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Session 2: Wholesale and Retail Market Design Coordination |
Moderator: Speakers: Steven Puller, Texas A&M University Andrew Wilkins, MSA Karynne Munroe, Nova Scotia Power |
| 12:30 p.m. | Lunch | |
| 1:00 p.m. | Keynote Address | Speaker: Dr. Ashley Langer, University of Arizona |
| 2:00 p.m. | Session 3: Transmission Policy |
Moderator: Reena Goyal, Blake, Cassels, & Graydon LLP Speakers: Johannes Pfeifenberger, The Brattle Group AJ Goulding, London Economics Dale Friesen, ATCO |
| 3:30 p.m. | Afternoon Refreshments | |
| 3:45 p.m. | Session 4: Ancillary Services in Decarbonized Wholesale Markets |
Moderator: Speakers: Jesse Bunchsbaum, University of Chicago's Energy & Environment Lab Amelia Blanke, California Independent System Operator Sam Tegel, ElectronX |
| 5:15 p.m. | Closing Remarks | Brandon Schaufele, Ivey Business School at Western University |
| 6:00 p.m. | Cocktail reception and dinner at Leña Restaurante | Keynote Remarks from Peter Gregg, President & CEO of Nova Scotia Power |
Moderators and Speakers:
|
Brian Rivard |
Brian Rivard is an Adjunct Professor at the Ivey Business School and Director of Research for the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre. His area of expertise and study is electricity market design and regulation. Brian has experience as an energy consultant, most recently as a Principal at Charles River Associates. He also worked for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) as Director of Markets. For almost 15 years at IESO, he helped support the development of market-based approaches to managing Ontario’s electricity system needs. In addition, Brian spent six years as a senior economist with the Canadian Competition Bureau. He has written articles for various publications such as the Energy Journal, Canadian Competition Record, Antitrust Law Journal, and the Journal of Economic Theory as well as chapters included in Competition Policy and Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-Based Economy and Payments Systems in the Global Economy: Risks and Opportunities. He has also provided expert testimony before the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Ontario Energy Board. He received his MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Western Ontario. |
|
Brandon Schaufele |
Brandon Schaufele is the Director of the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre and an Associate Professor of Business, Economics, and Public Policy at the Ivey Business School. Prior to coming to Ivey, Brandon was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Ottawa, as well as Research Director of the university’s Institute of the Environment. Brandon’s areas of expertise are regulation and energy and environmental economics. He has published in range of leading academic journals including, among others: the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Journal of Regulatory Economics and Energy Economics. Brandon served as Research Director of a national environmental policy think-tank and was Chair of the Canadian Resource and Environmental Economics Association. He is currently Treasurer and an Officer of the Canadian Economics Association. Brandon has testified before provincial and federal governments, participated in hearings on major energy projects, consulted for a wide array of companies and law firms on a range of policy topics and is host of the podcast Ergs and Equilibrium. |
