The way electricity resource adequacy is managed in the US is leading to billions in wasted dollars, according to a study published by Grid Strategies last week. The report, commissioned by the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Sustainable FERC project, highlighted that PJM Interconnection, New York Independent System Operator and ISO-New England retain greater power than state legislators in their respective areas, resulting in higher margins and capacity market prices, which in turn favors assets owned by the independent state and regional transmission operators. It is estimated that the growing reserve margins are causing around $1.4 billion to be wasted per year by the Northeast operators by securing an excess capacity of 34.7 GW. Analysts blame this on the use of…