Avista joins the Western Energy Imbalance Market

Avista announced last week it signed an agreement with the California Independent System Operator to participate in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM).

The Western EIM is a real-time energy wholesale market that automatically provides the lowest-cost electricity resources available to meet utility customer needs. This enables the Western region to share generation resources over a large geographic area and results in a more efficient use of renewable energy at the lowest available cost to customers.

“Avista has always been committed to balancing reliability and affordability while maintaining responsibility for our environmental footprint, and our actions demonstrate these values,” Jason Thackston, senior vice president of energy resources at Avista, said. “Joining the EIM will not only expand our ability to integrate additional renewable energy but also continue to reliably meet the energy needs of our customers and share resources more cost-effectively across a larger geographic area.”