The California grid operator’s board approved a load migration process for congestion revenue rights July 18. Key elements of the process approved by the grid operator this week include creating equal and offsetting sets of new congestion rights, making all allocated rights subject to transfer; and giving priority renewal to load serving entities that gain load. “The methodology we’re proposing here is to affect the migration through a new pair of [rights] that are created,” explained Chuck King, CAISO vice president of market development and program management. “The equal and offsetting rights essentially create a zero sum game with regard to the simultaneous feasibility of the rights set against the capability of the transmission system. “The megawatt that migrates would take with it the new right and that right is renewable,” King said. “The original rights that are associated with the load before it migrated change status to become non-renewable.” He added that the load-losing utility gets negative rights, which also are not renewable. Another element of the process relies on credit. The credit exposure could be subject to default if the load-losing utility sells the credits, King explained. During the meeting, representatives from Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison opposed one element of the proposal--the allowance of priority renewal of the load-gaining utility or load-serving entity. Each utility said that transferred rights should not be renewed. However, their arguments did not sway the board, which approved the process with a unanimous vote. When customers move from one utility or other load-serving entity to another, allocated rights must be transferred to follow the customers. Per the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recent approval of the grid operator’s January 2007 Long Term Congestion Revenue Rights compliance filing, CAISO must perform such transfers of rights. The proposal this week was the last step the board needed to act on to allow the program to go live, King said. Also during the meeting, CAISO market information manager Alan Isemonger gave a market performance report for the months of April and May. According to Isemonger, average hydroelectric generation peaked at 3,000 MW in May, while remaining well below production levels in previous years. Also, with the exception of two days in April and a day in May, the balancing energy market was subdued. Balancing energy made up 3 percent of total energy consumed in April and 2.8 percent of total energy consumed in May. Additionally, average ancillary services prices rose in May and total inter-zonal congestion costs increased substantially. April was quiet, but in May, prices for Regulation Up and Spinning Reserve increased sharply by 139 percent and 201 percent respectively, due to inter-zonal congestion. Total inter-zonal congestion costs increased from $5 million in April to $12.5 million in May. “Congestion was driven largely by scheduling coordinators attempting to move cheap hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest into the CAISO control area,” Isemonger said.