The terms of the year’s final NOME auction, scheduled for October 18, are expected to be set and announced within the current week, possibly even today.

However, at this stage, it appears that changes, including stricter conditions for exports of electricity amounts purchased at the auctions, are unlikely to come into effect until 2018.

Traders have acquired supply licenses to take part in NOME auctions and sell electricity amounts in foreign markets, where electricity price levels are higher.

RAE is looking to implement a monitoring system requiring buyers to supply at least 80 percent of electricity amounts purchased at the auctions to the local retail electricity market.

According to a proposal forwarded by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, NOME participants will face elimination from ensuing auctions if they do not meet this supply condition.

NOME auctions were introduced around a year ago to offer independent suppliers access to the main power utility PPC’s lower-cost lignite and hydropower sources.

Another issue being looked at by local authorities is the influence of a supplier surcharge on trading activity. The surcharge is believed to be encouraging NOME participants to export electricity amounts purchased at the auctions. The supplier surcharge is not imposed on exported electricity.

Bidding term revisions are also being examined. As a result, bidders are expected to regain the right to make bidding amount changes during the auction without any descalation of existing bid levels.

A total of 718 MWh/h will be offered at next week’s NOME auction. This amount represents a drastic increase from the year’s original remainder of 246 MW/h. A further 229 MWh/h was added as part of the bailout revisions, requiring an extra 4 percent of the year’s original total, while a further 243 MWh/h was included as a result of PPC’s failure to meet market share contraction targets.