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The different possibility from the Great Plains: SPP Markets+
For greater than a decade, the push to increase vitality markets into the U.S. West has largely come out of California. But previously few years, the Southwest Power Pool, which operates the transmission system and vitality markets throughout 14 Midwest and Great Plains states, has been stretching its footprint westward.
SPP began by serving as a “reliability coordinator” making certain compliance with federal and regional grid requirements for a number of utilities throughout the U.S. West — a perform that CAISO additionally supplies for utilities within the area. In 2021,SPP launched its personal real-time vitality market that operates equally to CAISO’s WEIM. And previously three years, it has been creating Markets+, which has emerged as a competitor to EDAM.
At least eight utilities that at the moment are a part of CAISO’s WEIM have additionally made commitments to assist the event of Markets+. “They’re placing cash down to determine what it’ll appear to be,” Mark Specht, western states vitality manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy program, advised Canary Media in 2023. “It doesn’t imply they’ll stop WEIM — however it does imply they’re .”
Specht spoke to Canary Media shortly earlier than a invoice that may have reworked CAISO governance to allow it to serve utilities exterior the state failed to maneuver ahead within the California legislature. Previous makes an attempt to allow this alteration in CAISO’s construction resulted in 2018, after the final of three separate pushes by then-Governor Jerry Brown faltered within the face of opposition from environmental and labor teams.
Back then, these teams apprehensive that increasing CAISO’s scope to states with dirtier vitality might undermine California’s personal clear vitality buildout. But as we speak, EDAM backers say, the better threat is that California will likely be shut out of an expanded regional energy-trading regime that would profit local weather targets and customers, Specht wrote in a 2023 weblog publish.
The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative plan put ahead final month gained backing from California environmental and labor teams by structuring its vitality market enlargement in a approach totally different from earlier efforts, Specht defined in an interview with Canary Media final week. But whereas the attitude inside California has shifted previously eight years, the attitude of utilities and regulators in different states has remained targeted on the identical concern: the dangers of committing to an vitality market through which California sits within the driver’s seat.
Choosing between a market with — or with out — California
Neither EDAM nor Markets+ has solidified its construction, since these choices require consensus amongst a membership that has but to coalesce. EDAM gained approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late final 12 months, and Markets+ expects FERC approval later this 12 months — a key step for any vitality market that crosses state borders.
But the underlying construction of EDAM, which provides CAISO’s board of governors last say in what insurance policies it chooses to undergo FERC for approval to implement, has been a longtime impediment.
California’s local weather and clear vitality insurance policies have possible performed a position in holding some states from the negotiating desk. Utility regulators in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming declined to take part within the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, with Wyoming regulators telling the group in a letter final 12 months that “CAISO stays topic to regulate by California’s legislative and govt branches, precluding institution of a really impartial governance construction.”
Another present holdout is the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal energy advertising entity that manages about 27 gigawatts of energy generated by federal hydroelectric dams within the Northwest and different sources and operates a 15,000-mile transmission community throughout the area. In April, BPA workers beneficial that it be a part of Markets+ fairly than EDAM, citing “ongoing issues with governance,” in addition to different points.
“The BPA put in writing what has been acknowledged quietly throughout the area,” Mona Tierney-Lloyd, head of regulatory and institutional affairs for distributed vitality and demand response supplier Enel North America, advised Canary Media in an April interview. That’s why she’s heartened by the breadth of assist the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative has garnered for its multistep plan to “efficiently cross some type of governance change.”
The objective of that plan, permitted final week, is to “take governance off the desk” as a concern for utilities and regulators throughout the area, in accordance with Advanced Energy United’s Turner. “Step one goes fairly far in that regard. Step two would go additional.”
Building a bridge between California and the remainder of the West
The newly permitted plan begins by giving the standing five-member governing physique for the Western Energy Imbalance Market, made up of former utility regulators and utility executives from throughout the Western U.S., an equal stance with CAISO.
Today, that physique holds joint authority with CAISO’s board of administrators over choices for that real-time market. But if these two teams can’t agree on what insurance policies to pursue, CAISO’s most well-liked coverage is filed with FERC, whereas WEIM’s governing physique is restricted to submitting a “assertion of opposition” to that plan of action, Turner mentioned.
Under the plan, any disputes between CAISO and the WEIM will result in each teams submitting for federal approval concurrently — a so-called “jump-ball submitting.” “Both filings go to FERC, they’ve equal standing, after which FERC decides which they assume is extra simply and affordable,” Turner mentioned.
These seemingly minute distinctions over governance and authority are actually a very large deal for bringing skeptical utilities and regulators on board, Turner mentioned. But to attain true independence, EDAM will want its personal regional group with “sole authority over these sections of the tariff which have impression on the Western market,” he mentioned. Step two of the initiative’s plan lays out the right way to develop that governing physique whereas preserving CAISO’s authority over California-specific issues.
CAISO will want California lawmakers to cross laws authorizing it to hold out that subsequent part, in accordance with a authorized evaluation commissioned by the initiative. But Turner highlighted that the legislation to make this occur is significantly easier than the laws that’s foundered within the state over the previous decade.
What’s extra, California’s earlier legislative efforts proposed to first give CAISO authority to change into a multistate entity after which work out precisely how that may be structured, he mentioned. The initiative’s effort works within the different route — getting stakeholders from throughout the area to outline “what it takes to start out a regional market,” and if the following steps require laws, “let’s suggest focused laws to handle that.”
That perspective was echoed by Kevin Thompson, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission. “Giving major authority to the WEIM because the governing board is a step in the fitting route,” because it “will get us away from the joint authority and begins transferring us nearer in direction of impartial governance,” Thompson mentioned on the Pathways Initiative assembly final month. Arizona utilities Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power, and Arizona Public Service are members of CAISO’s WEIM but in addition assist Markets+ improvement, placing them within the either-or camp when it comes to future affiliation.
An extended first step in an excellent longer journey
Kelsie Gomanie, an advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council working with the Sustainable FERC Project, gave kudos to the initiative’s two-step plan in a May 31 weblog publish. But she additionally highlighted hopes for a “longer-term step three” — the “eventual improvement of extra regional market companies, together with a full Regional Transmission Organization (RTO).”
Many different EDAM backers additionally hope to see an RTO emerge throughout the U.S. West. But regardless of legal guidelines on the books in Nevada and Colorado requiring their utilities to affix an RTO by 2030, that’s nonetheless very a lot a work in progress.
Energy markets are a large a part of what federally regulated RTOs do, however that’s removed from their solely perform. RTOs additionally manage capability markets that pay for sources wanted to take care of grid reliability when energy demand outstrips provide, similar to throughout summer time and winter peaks in electrical energy demand. And they plan and allocate the price of constructing new transmission grids that the nation wants to satisfy decarbonization targets, decrease energy prices, and assist scale back threats of energy outages throughout excessive climate occasions.
The financial savings that may come from coordinated capability useful resource and transmission planning are important. A 2022 examine commissioned by Advanced Energy United (previously referred to as Advanced Energy Economy) discovered that creating an RTO throughout the U.S. West by 2030 might yield $2 billion in annual vitality financial savings, allow 4.4 gigawatts of further clear energy, and create a whole lot of hundreds of jobs.
These shifts is probably not financially advantageous for the utilities concerned, nevertheless. Utilities throughout the U.S. West earn a regulated charge of return for investments in energy vegetation, energy traces, and different capital infrastructure. Structures that require them to share technology sources or transmission traces may save prospects cash however eat into utility earnings.
At the identical time, utilities face strain from regulators and prospects to restrict the price impression of the facility vegetation and new energy traces they have to construct to serve rising demand for electrical energy and to take care of grid reliability.
In an interview final week, Specht of the Union of Concerned Scientists highlighted the potential for an expanded vitality market to introduce policymakers in different states to the broader advantages an RTO can carry. “One of the principle issues we’re attempting to maintain in sight is to depart open a pathway for this group to finally provide RTO companies if that’s what of us within the West need,” he mentioned.
“Setting up this impartial regional group is the important thing hurdle we have now to recover from,” he mentioned. “We have a lot of laborious work to determine precisely how the brand new regional group is structured, the way it’s ruled, how its stakeholder processes work…And we want participation and enter from of us across the West.”
