U.S. cities and counties are important leaders when it comes to decarbonizing power at the local level. As more local governments become interested in driving decarbonization in their regions, engaging in energy issues at the wholesale electricity market level presents a new opportunity to expand their influence and impact.

1. PATHWAYS FOR CITIES TO
ENGAGE IN WHOLESALE
MARKET ISSUES
Heidi Ratz, U.S. Electricity Markets Manager, World Resources Institute
Jared Policicchio, Deputy Director for Policy, City of Chicago
Matthew Prorok, Senior Policy Manager, Great Plains Institute
March 9, 2021

2. AGENDA
• Pathways for Cities to Engage in
Wholesale Markets: Heidi Ratz, U.S. Electricity Markets
Manager, World Resources Institute
• City Engagement in PJM Through PJMCCC: Jared
Policicchio, Deputy Director for Policy, City of Chicago
• Incorporating City Goals into Transmission Planning
and Markets in the Midcontinent: Matthew Prorok, Senior
Policy Manager, Great Plains Institute
• Q&A from Participants- please use the chat box and we will
answer your questions at the end

3. PROJECT OVERVIEW
Workstream 1: Enable local governments to better understand how
wholesale markets impact their clean energy goals and how to
engage in stakeholder processes
Workstream 2: Designed to advance IRP processes and modeling,
to evolve to better integrate customer solar goals and the changing
profile of solar
• Addressing Regulatory Burdens to Accessing Solar Among
Municipal, Commercial and Institutional
Customers: Addresses regulatory burdens facing solar energy
to increase access for large customers - local governments and
corporate customers.
• The project is comprised of two major workstreams:

4. FORTHCOMING PAPER:
LOCAL GOVERNMENT VOICES IN WHOLESALE
MARKET ISSUES: ENGAGEMENT APPROACHES
FOR DECARBONIZATION
• Designed to educate local governments on why they might want to
engage in wholesale market issues, how they can engage, and who
else is already involved to partner or learn from.
• This webinar will touch briefly upon the why and walk through the
how as an introduction for local governments.
• The paper frames who as states, consumer advocates,
environmental groups, public interest groups, large corporate
customers, and other local governments.
• Full paper launching March 22- will share an email with the link.

5. ORGANIZED WHOLESALE ENERGY MARKETS

6. CITY INTEREST IN WHOLESALE MARKETS
(America’s Pledge 2020).
• Cities and communities are climate leaders through renewable
energy purchases and broader decarbonization.
• Organized wholesale markets in the United States enable
renewable energy purchasing and integration.
• Barriers to clean energy that undermine the goals of local
governments can arise in market rules, interaction with state
policies, or planning functions.
Key Examples of City Engagement:
The formal PJM Cities and Communities Coalition (PJMCCC) and
informal city collaboration on transmission issues in MISO.

7. ENGAGEMENT PATHWAYS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

8. PUBLIC STATEMENTS AND LEADERSHIP PATHWAY
Benefits:
• Public statements and leadership can be effective ways to quickly and easily
comment on issues at the FERC or RTO level impacting local governments.
• Statements can be crafted to help other parties more fully understand city
action, such as clean energy goals and renewable energy purchasing.
• Public comments and leadership can also reach a wider audience than FERC or
RTO comments and engage new voices to drive broader regional
decarbonization.
Key to Understand:
• Impact may be broad – comments won’t be on the “public record” for official
FERC or RTO consideration.

9. ENGAGEMENT AT THE FERC LEVEL
Benefits:
• FERC-level engagement can impact the regulation of the RTO that local
governments are operating in and address broad issues impacting all RTOs.
• Provides an avenue to raise new concerns or issues- potentially through direct
engagement or formal complaints. Several wholesale market–level issues are
addressed through proceedings that offer several opportunities for stakeholders to
file comments on the public record.
Key to Understand:
• Engaging at the FERC level requires local governments to understand the roles of
the agency and the types of actions and proceedings that drive change.

10. ENGAGEMENT AT THE RTO LEVEL
Benefits:
• RTO-level engagement can directly impact the regional electricity market
cities operate within.
• Direct conversations with RTO leadership and staff can educate both parties and
build relationships.
Key to Understand:
• Cities will need to understand their RTO’s governance structure, stakeholder
processes and how decisions are ultimately made.
• If considering official membership to vote, cities should understand the costs and
the voting dynamics in their territory.

11. THANK YOU!

12. CITY ENGAGEMENT IN PJM
THROUGH PJMCCC
Jared Policicchio
Deputy Director for Policy
City of Chicago

13. City Engagement in
PJM through
PJMCCC
JARED POLICICCHIO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR
POLICY
CITY OF CHICAGO
PJMCCC STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER

14. What is PJMCCC?
1
4
The PJM Cities and Communities Coalition (PJMCCC) is an emerging coalition of 9 chartered
members and additional observing cities dedicated to pursuing solutions to climate change and
reducing carbon emissions. Its members represent over 9% of customers in the PJM territory.
Richmond,
VA
45% reduction
GHG by 2030;
and net zero
GHG by 2050
Washington,
DC
50% Renewable
Portfolio
Standard (RPS)
by 2043, 100%
by 2050
Chicago, IL
100% renewable
energy
community-wide
by 2035
Alexandria,
VA
100% renewable
energy in city-
owned facilities
by 2020
Charlottesville,
VA
45% emissions
reductions by 2030,
carbon neutrality by
2050
Cincinnati,
OH
100%
renewable
energy for
government by
2035
Newark, NJ
20% reduction
in municipal
energy
consumption
by 2025
Philadelphia, PA
100% carbon-free
electricity grid by
2050
Pittsburgh,
PA
100% renewable
energy use by
2030, 80% GHG
reduction by
2050

15. Mission
The PJM Cities & Communities Coalition has been
launched to coordinate the efforts of cities in the
PJM territory that are interested in removing and
preventing barriers to decarbonization
solutions in their regional wholesale electricity
market.
The Coalition provides a platform for members to:
• Educate and build capacity on these issues
• Form partnerships to collaborate with similarly
aligned organizations and
• Create opportunities for members to work
collectively to drive decarbonization within the PJM
region.

16. 2019-2020
2019
Letter to PJM
Board of Managers
July
2020
Storage Policy
Statement
Released (Cited
in FERC
Docket)
&
WRI Blog
Featured in
Green Biz
November
2020
PJM Staff Call
December
PJMCCC Accomplishments
2020
PJMCCC Logo
and
Landing Page
October
2020
PJM
Leadership
Call
April
Ongoing: Member Education
Large Milestones
2020
First Annual
Summit
& Adopted
Charter
February

17. PJMCCC Engagement and Outcomes
• PJMCCC has engaged along all three pathways: public, FERC,
and RTO.
• The engagement has PJM more aware of city needs,
established city-RTO relationships, and built the capacity of
the cities to work at a regional level.
• Working as a Coalition provided a good platform for the
engagement- sharing knowledge/education, creating
relationships with other organizations, and combining the
cities into a unified voice.

18. Public Statements and Leadership:
Letter to PJM Board of Managers
The letter allowed PJMCCC to publicly highlight the importance
of selecting a CEO that would prioritize keeping markets open
to clean energy, governance, transparency, and other city
priorities.

19. Public Statements and Leadership:
Storage Policy Statement
• PJMCCC supports updated market
rules and operational changes that
support deployment of energy
storage.
• Their policy statement acknowledged
that cities have a specific role in
supporting storage because of its
ability to support and advance
renewable energy integration,
resilience and equity.
The statement allowed the cities to communicate the
connections between market rules and city priorities.

20. Engagement with FERC:
Attendance at Public FERC Events
• PJMCCC members have attended FERC technical conferences but have yet to give a
formal presentation to FERC or comment directly in a proceeding.
• City participation in public events has helped the cities understand future changes at
the FERC level, like potential carbon pricing, and the range of options considered.
• Upcoming conferences/workshops of interest:
○ March 23-24, Resource Adequacy in the Evolving Electricity Sector
○ April 16 Workshop Regarding the Creation of the Office of Public Participation
○ Electric Reliability in the Face of Climate Change
Engagement in public events provides the cities with education
and awareness of what future action FERC might take.

21. Engagement with an RTO (Nonmember):
Direct Engagement/Public Events
Building a direct line of communication has built relationships
between the cities and their RTO and a new forum for addressing
wholesale market impacts on their goals.
• In 2020, PJMCCC established direct communication with PJM's State
Policy and Member Services department.
• The engagement allowed PJM to better understand the coalition's
mission and recognize them as a stakeholder group with specific
interests.
• The coalition also had direct conversations with staff to discuss the
impacts of the expanded Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) on city
purchases.

22. PJMCCC Value Proposition
PJM CCC allows members to overcome
engagement barriers by providing education on relevant
issues, connections and partnerships with non-city
or community stakeholders for opportunities for
organized or joint action
• Wholesale market level issues are vast and complex
• Traditionally stakeholders with technical support,
capacity and funding can meaningfully track and
participate
• For wholesale markets to continue evolving, a wider
set of stakeholders are needed to participate in this
space and drive planning towards clean energy
• A shared voice among cities and communities
amplifies the impact of actions
Image Credit: "Solar panels" by OregonDOT is licensed under CC BY 2.0

23. Joining PJMCCC
PJMCCC is accepting new members and offers an “observing tier” for
cities who are eager to learn but do not have capacity for driving
coalition action.
Reach out for more information on:
• Impacts of wholesale market level issues on city clean energy goals
• The PJM CCC membership application
• The PJM CCC charter
• Upcoming PJM CCC calls and events
Contact:
Maribeth DeLorenzo, Deputy Director, Urban Sustainability Administration; Department of Energy &
Environment; Government of the District of Columbia
maribeth.delorenzo@dc.gov

24. THANK YOU!

25. INCORPORATING CITY GOALS INTO
TRANSMISSION PLANNING AND
MARKETS IN THE MIDCONTINENT
Matt Prorok
Senior Policy Manager
Great Plains Institute

26. Pathways for Cities to Engage in
Wholesale Market Issues Webinar
March 9, 2021
Incorporating City Goals
into Transmission
Planning and Markets in
the Midcontinent
Matt Prorok
Senior Policy Manager

29. GPI’s work with cities
and communities across
the Midwest
• Direct technical and policy support
• Climate action and resilience planning
• EV- and solar-ready communities
• Convening local governments around
policy and regulatory issues
• Building a social license for renewable
development
• Implementing ordinances and policies at
the local level to ensure communities have
a say in where and how renewable energy
is developed
• Regional engagement on transmission
issues

30. City Renewable Energy Goal
Abita Spring, LA 100% Renewable Energy by 2030
Columbia, MO 30% Renewable Energy by 2028
Eau Claire, WI 100% Renewable Energy by 2050
Fayetteville, AR 100% Renewable Energy by 2035
Des Moines, IA* 100% Renewable Energy by 2035
Madison, WI 100% Renewable Energy by 2050
Middleton, WI 100% Renewable Energy by 2040
Milwaukee, WI 25% Renewable Energy by 2025
Minneapolis, MN 100% Renewable Energy by 2030
Monona, WI 100% Renewable Energy by 2035
Rochester, MN 25% Renewable Energy by 2025
St. Louis Park, MN 100% Renewable Energy by 2030
St. Louis, MO 54% Renewable Energy by 2050
St. Paul, MN 100% Renewable Energy by 2050
Traverse City, MI 100% Renewable Energy by 2040
Current Midwest City
Renewable Energy Goals

31. 15
20
25
30
2017
2019
2021
2023
2025
2027
2029
2031
2033
2035
2037
2039
2041
2043
2045
2047
2049
Annual
TWh
Projected Total Load for MISO Cities with
Renewable Energy Goals
BAU Cities Load Mid-Case Electrification High-Case Electrification

32. Minneapolis, MN
St. Louis Park,
MN
St. Paul, MN
Rochester, MN
Columbia, MO
Eau Claire, WI Madison, WI
Monona, WI
Milwaukee, WI
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
2030 2035 2040 2050
Annual
TWh
"Missing" MWh
(City Goal for RE Procurement - City RE Procurement under Utility
Mix)
Traverse City, MI Abita Springs, LA Minneapolis, MN St. Louis Park, MN
St. Paul, MN Rochester, MN Fayetteville, AR Columbia, MO
Eau Claire, WI Madison, WI Middleton, WI Monona, WI
Milwaukee, WI New Orleans St Louis

33. Source: MISO, MTEP Futures White Paper, April 2020.
https://cdn.misoenergy.org/20200427%20MTEP%20Futures%20Item%2002b%20Futures%20White%20Paper443656.pdf

34. October 2020
Education and opportunity for direct engagement
with utilities and MISO
Co-sponsored by:
• Great Plains Institute
• Rural Minnesota Energy Board
• Minnesota State Energy Center of Excellence
• MN Public Utilities Commission
Other participants included:
• MISO staff
• NGOs and environmental orgs
• Developers
• MN utility planning staff
Southwestern Minnesota
Transmission Summit

35. • Direct engagement with utilities (formal
and informal)
• Direct engagement with state policy
makers (legislators, governors’ office)
and regulators
• Forming multi-state networks and
coalitions
• Direct engagement at the Regional
Transmission Organization
Pathways for Engagement
for Communities

36. Matt Prorok
Sr Policy Manager
Great Plains Institute