Energy Markets 101 explains how electricity markets work and how a solar project earns money inside them. It is the course that makes sense of why the same project is worth different amounts in different places.
What you will learn
- The electricity value chain from generation to customer.
- How regulated and competitive markets differ, and what RTOs and ISOs do.
- Wholesale versus retail markets, and how utility tariffs and retail rates are structured.
- Supply, demand, the merit order and how dispatch actually works.
- Locational marginal pricing, congestion, losses and nodal pricing.
- Day-ahead versus real-time markets, and energy arbitrage.
- Capacity markets, ancillary services, RECs and resource adequacy.
- How solar participates — and how curtailment, negative pricing and basis risk erode value.
- The duck curve, renewable integration, and how battery storage participates.
- Regional differences across PJM, CAISO, ERCOT, NYISO and ISO-NE.
Course outline — 39 lessons
- What Are Energy Markets?
- Why Energy Markets Matter
- History of Energy Markets
- The Electricity Value Chain: Generation to Customer
- Regulated vs. Competitive Electricity Markets
- RTOs and ISOs
- Utility Tariffs and Retail Rates
- Wholesale vs. Retail Electricity Markets
- How Market Dynamics Drive Project Value
- Market Risk and Contracting
- Supply & Demand in Electricity Markets
- The Merit Order & Dispatch
- Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP)
- Congestion, Losses & Nodal Pricing
- Day-Ahead vs Real-Time Markets
- Energy Arbitrage
- Energy Markets
- Capacity Markets
- Ancillary Services
- Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)
- Resource Adequacy
- Case Studies & Regional Examples
- How Solar Participates in Electricity Markets
- Curtailment & Negative Pricing
- Basis Risk & Congestion Risk
- The Duck Curve & Renewable Integration
- How Battery Storage Participates in Markets
- Who Regulates Electricity Markets? FERC, States & Utilities
- Interconnection and Transmission Constraints
- Resource Adequacy & Reliability
- How Energy Markets Are Changing
- U.S Power Market Map
- PJM
- CAISO
- ERCOT
- NYISO / ISO-NE
- Case Study: What the Same Project Can Have Different Value in Different Markets
- Who Works in Energy Markets?
- Skills and Tools Used by Energy Market Professionals
Who this course is for
Developers and originators choosing where to build. Analysts and asset managers whose revenue assumptions depend on market structure. Anyone who has heard “it depends on the market” and wants to know what that actually means.
What you need to know first
None. The course starts from what an electricity market is.
What comes next
Project Finance 101 turns market revenue into project returns. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) covers how that revenue gets contracted.
The course is free. Create an account to start.