Impact of variable renewable energy on US electricity markets

This paper reviews the design and operation of a number of large, regional organized markets in the US, as well as the operation of stand-alone single balancing area bilateral markets, from the viewpoint of integrating large amounts of variable output renewable energy sources. Significant differences between the two types of markets are noted. In addition, a series of shortcomings of the first generation market designs are discussed, and some thoughts on the design changes required to enable greater participation of variable output generators in the market are provided.