Commercial Offtake interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your background + commercial / offtake experience.
2. Tell me about a PPA, hedge, or commercial transaction you've worked on.
3. Why IPP commercial / offtake vs trading, development, or utility commercial?
4. Why this market / technology mix - the sector, ERCOT vs PJM vs CAISO, gas vs renewables vs storage?
5. Why the firm?
6. What's your read on our fleet + market position?
7. Tell me what you understand about our offtake + hedging strategy.
8. Walk me through how you'd structure a PPA for one of our assets.

Technical concepts to master

• PPA structures + clauses

  Utility PPA · Corporate PPA + Virtual PPA (VPPA) · Sleeved PPA · Tolling agreement · Heat-rate call option (HRCO)

• Hedging instruments + residual risk

  Hub-settled swap (fixed-volume) · Proxy revenue swap (PRS) · Volume-firming hedge · FTR / CRR (Financial Transmission Right / Congestion Revenue Right) · Capacity contract / RA bilateral

• Capacity + ancillary markets

  Capacity auction mechanics · Going-forward cost (GFC) + bid logic · ELCC + capacity accreditation · Ancillary services stack · ORDC (Operating Reserve Demand Curve)

• Capture rate + basis economics

  Capture rate · Basis differential · Shape adjustment + TOD weights · P50 / P90 / P99 generation · Volumetric vs price risk

Practical drills

• A 250 MW wind asset in the sector is being offered into a corporate VPPA process. The corporate offtaker wants a 12-year fixed price, settled at the asset's nearest hub. Walk through how you'd structure the PPA + price it.
• You operate a 400 MW gas peaker in PJM West. Forward heat rate looks attractive for the next 24 months. You're considering: (a) hub-settled spark spread swap, (b) heat-rate call option sold to a financial counterparty, (c) leave it merchant. Walk through the decision.
• A 600 MW coal unit in PJM faces the next BRA. GFC = $90 / kW-yr. Last BRA cleared at $50 / kW-yr in your zone; forward auction expectations are $70-$110. Expected energy + ancillary margin = $30 / kW-yr. Walk through bid + retire / continue decision.

Smart-question anchors

• Hedge book + offtake mix - hedge ratio target, hedge tenor, PPA mix shift over the last 24 months
• Capacity market positioning - which ISOs, recent clearing prices, retire / continue posture on legacy thermal
• Corporate PPA strategy - direct vs sleeved, tenor norms, basis treatment philosophy
• Storage + hybrid commercial - how the firm commercialises new storage MW (capacity + ancillary + arbitrage)
• REC + IRA monetisation - transferability use, voluntary vs compliance REC strategy

Sourced from

FERC + ISO / RTO market design materials (PJM, ISO-NE, NYISO, MISO, CAISO, ERCOT, SPP) · EIA + S&P Global Commodity Insights + Wood Mackenzie + ICF wholesale power reports · American Clean Power Association + ESIG + EEI white papers on PPA + capacity · Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, 2022) + IRS guidance + Treasury safe harbors · Public IPP 10-Ks + earnings transcripts (sector-wide pattern read)