Sharpen Your Pencils: Market School is Back in Session |
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Kids are heading back to school across the West as a heat dome keeps temperatures soaring. Not to sound like a broken record, but one of the best ways to ease pressure on the grid during extreme heat is through a regional energy market that helps utilities coordinate across state lines, improves reliability, reduces costs, and makes better use of available power before shortages occur.
And just as a new school year means new classes - a new class of Western utilities are making commitments to join Western energy markets. Read on for the latest updates as we head into fall, even if the weather still feels like summer. - Leah Rubin Shen, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United
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On the Syllabus: BPA's Day-Ahead Market Decision |
A new piece from BPA outlines Administrator Travis Kavulla's three guiding principles when choosing a day-ahead market: 1) the ability to trust in the durability of rules governing the market, 2) the depth and liquidity of the market, and 3) the impacts on reliability and economic efficiencies resulting from new seams between adjoining markets. According to sources, Administrator Kavulla is expected to provide further clarity on BPA's market choice this week, as the agency weighs whether to stick with its commitment to Markets+ or reconsider. While this is not expected to be a fully definitive statement, it will likely provide more insight into BPA's direction. Administrator Kavulla has said he will make a fact-based decision after hearing from staff, customers, and stakeholders - so mark your calendars because BPA will also host its first day-ahead market participation workshop in over a year on September 10.
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New Reading List for ROWE Board: The Pathways Launch Committee is preparing for the incoming ROWE Board of Directors by putting together a draft briefing book that contains recommendations for stakeholder processes, budget and finance, market oversight and data access, governance tariff, and corporate organization and governance. Comments on the drafts are due September 4. The ROWE board will be seated this fall and will ultimately decide which recommendations to adopt.
ROWE Gets Back to School Supplies: FERC has approved CAISO's plan to provide up to $8.5 million in startup financing to the ROWE as the new independent governance organization gets set up and running. The funding will cover ROWE operations through early 2028, when it is expected to take over governance of EDAM and the WEIM.
EDAM Report Card: CAISO is touting more than $11 million in benefits from EDAM in its first two months, alongside hundreds of millions in benefits from the WEIM, according to its new Western Energy Markets Quarterly Benefits report. But some stakeholders are questioning CAISO's methodology and asking CAISO to provide more detail behind its EDAM load adjustments, while others are pushing for more transparency around EDAM's early costs and benefits.
SPP Fire Drills: After two emergency alerts and several close calls in just a week, SPP is moving to address resource adequacy challenges in its RTO West footprint. SPP has proposed an interim tariff change that would incentivize participants to secure enough supply earlier in the day-ahead process, rather than waiting for the real-time market.
New Assignment for SPP: SPP Board of Directors approved a high-priority report to examine an increase in transfer capacity between the Eastern and Western Interconnections, where aging DC lines are limited to only 1,300 MW of transfers. A preliminary analysis found that increasing each tie by 1,000 MW and setting transfers based on price convergence could produce $786 million in annual locational marginal pricing benefits to SPP. The study will run in 2027, and recommendations are expected in late 2027 or early 2028.
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State and Regional Updates |
New Student Joins EDAM Class: EDAM is growing! BHE Montana is now the eighth participant to join EDAM, bringing more than 370 MW of wind and 75 MW of battery storage to the market. This move builds on the company's recent entry into the WEIM, where it has already seen more than $2 million in benefits.
BPA Has its Homework Set Out: The agency faces growing pressure from stakeholders to make a day-ahead market decision. SPP expects the agency to decide within the next two months whether it will follow through on its commitment to join Markets+. The Public Power Council and several utilities have urged BPA to also stick with its decision to join Markets+, warning further delays could jeopardize its value. Meanwhile, Avangrid has highlighted the risks of creating a day-ahead market seam in the Northwest, arguing that seams will reduce efficiency and complicate regional trading. On top of that, a federal appeals court is weighing a lawsuit challenging BPA's 2025 decision to pursue Markets+. BPA has argued that it has not yet made a legally binding commitment to Markets+, while opponents say that BPA actions have already put it on that path. The agency is still weighing its options, and the whole region is watching to see which route it decides to take.
Portland General Electric Saved by the Bell: PGE's EDAM participation is on track, with the utility set to join in October.
Arizona Utilities Graded on Transparency: Arizona advocacy groups sent a letter to the ACC urging them to more closely scrutinize and publicly evaluate the utilities' decision to join Markets+.
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