PGE to join CAISO Extended Day-Ahead Market to lower power costs, access more clean resources

Portland General Electric recently declared intentions to join the regional California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), in a bid to help lower power costs while improving its system resilience and access to clean energy resources.

Once EDAM begins operations, currently slated for 2026, participating utilities will be able to bid their anticipated energy demand and generate resources into a pooled market a day ahead of expected usage, allowing to lower costs and share clean energy to optimize.

For PGE’s part, the company touted the move as one that builds on the success of its participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) that began in 2017. WEIM is a real-time, wholesale energy market that PGE said has cut its costs and allowed it to integrate more renewable power and grid reliability.

PGE added that the move to EDAM could also unlock gross cost savings of anywhere from $6 million to $18 million annually. The final number of EDAM participants will affect that ending figure, but the technology, systems and transmission network for the project are already deployed. That means PGE will be able to connect to regional resources across a common market ranging from the Pacific Northwest to the desert Southwest.

Others interested in EDAM so far include the multi-state PacifiCorp, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Balancing Area of Northern California.