Electricity Markets and What They Mean for Colorado and Renewable Energy

CRES - Electricity Markets and What They Mean for Colorado and Renewable Energy In this webinar, we were joined by Erik Ela, an expert in electricity markets and integrating both utility-scale and distributed renewable energy resources onto the power grid to reliably reduce costs and emissions. The presentation provided an overview of how these markets work around the country, including specific features of Southwest Power Pool’s RTO West and Markets + initiatives, and what they may mean for Colorado and the state's renewable energy goals. ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Erik Ela is an engineering consultant who specializes in electricity market design and operations, renewable energy and emerging technology integration, bulk power system operations, essential reliability services, resource planning, and electricity policy. He is the Director of System Operation and Electricity Markets for the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) and has been the Program Manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), supporting its research program on electricity market design and operations and topics related to transmission operations and planning. Prior to joining EPRI in 2014, Erik worked for several years with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a senior research engineer and before that for the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). He has been involved in several working groups of the IEEE Power and Energy Society, CIGRE, NERC, and ESIG, including as the chair of the IEEE Power System Economics Subcommittee, chair of ESIG’s System Operations and Market Design Working Group, associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, and part of NYISO’s Environmental Advisory Council. He received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering. The program was hosted by Peter Eberle, CRES Chair and NCRES Program Manager. A question and answer session followed the presentation. TIMELINE: 0:00 Welcome and announcements - Peter Eberle 3:06 Presentation - Erik Ela 54:42 Q&A This program was organized by the Northern Colorado chapter of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society and was recorded at their October 1, 2025, meeting. Contact us at [email protected] or visit us online at https://cres-energy.org/. CREDITS: Video production by Brian Beinlich, https://brianbeinlich.com. Intro/outro music: “Digifunk” by DivKid via the YouTube Audio Library. ABOUT CRES: For more than 25 years, the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES) and its local chapters have provided education, policy advocacy, and community engagement to accelerate Colorado toward a 100% renewable energy future. CRES is a statewide, non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)3 membership organization that drives environmental, social, and economic benefits for our communities by promoting all forms of renewable energy, energy efficiency, storage, high-performance buildings, and other low- or zero-carbon solutions. CRES features several local monthly speaker series throughout the state, provides speakers, experts, and workshops, and weighs in on state energy policy. Learn more about CRES, membership, and how you can sign up to become a speaker or volunteer by visiting our website at https://cres-energy.org.