More than two dozen western utilities back SPP development of centralized Markets+ unit
A total of 26 organizations from the American West recently signed a letter of support for Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) development of Markets+, cheering its unique design and governance structure.
On March 29, 2024, SPP submitted a tariff to establish Markets+, a centralized Day-Ahead and Real-Time unit commitment and dispatch market in the Western Interconnection. That tariff was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as SPP developed Markets+ in collaboration with various industry stakeholders, including investor-owned utilities, public power utilities and state regulators, to bring the benefits of regional centralized energy markets to an area of the country that is predominantly served by a bilateral market. SPP said Markets+ will promote the efficient use of the region’s diverse energy resources and loads, and maximize transmission capacity use for the benefit of the region and its customers.
“We collectively appreciate the effort and process that has resulted in the filing of the Markets+ tariff,” the entities said in their letter. “We look forward to participating in the ongoing development of the protocols and other market details.”
In its tariff request, SPP asked FERC to create a 31-day public comment period for the Markets+ tariff proposal to gather comments like these.
In their letter, the utilities backing this move noted it would fundamentally reshape how energy is bought and sold in the West and will need a fair and equitable design and development process to match. Citing their own participation in the Phase 1 funding of the structure, they said they had seen firsthand its benefits and importance and lauded its independent governance model, which included items like an interim Markets+ Independent Panel.
“We believe that the Markets+ framework would provide a level playing field for participants at the outset,” the organizations wrote. “We are also confident in SPP’s experience and track record for negotiating efficient, reliable, and equitable seams agreements.”
Additionally, the organizations acknowledged that Markets+ offers a means to achieve full, voluntary RTO participation, and has a mechanism in place to guarantee adequate resources for reliability: the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP). WRAP would be a common resource adequacy program, and require all Markets+ participants to be members of this program. The potential for cost savings and equitable transmission benefits were also touted by the groups, which said the plans for Markets+ could help with the growing importance of transmission upgrades and expansion, as well as balancing transmission investment with costs borne by load.
Signatories to the letter included:
- Arizona Public Service Co.
- Avista Corp.
- Benton PUD
- Bonneville Power Administration
- Chelan County PUD
- Clatskanie PUD
- Deseret Power
- Douglas PUD
- Franklin PUD
- Grant County PUD
- Hood River Electric & Internet Coop
- Idaho Falls Power
- Klickitat PUD
- Lower Valley Energy
- Modern Electric Water Company
- NorthWestern Energy
- Pacific County PUD
- Powerex Corp.
- Public Service Company of Colorado
- Puget Sound Energy
- Salt River Project
- Snohomish PUD
- Tacoma Power
- Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
- Tucson Electric Power Company
- Wells Rural Electric Company
“SPP is proud to receive support from a broad and diverse group of stakeholders across the western interconnection for the continued development of Markets+,” said Antoine Lucas, SPP vice president of markets. “We’re glad to see western entities base their support on characteristics of our market design that we think make Markets+ a wise choice for the west, including enhanced system reliability, the affordability of wholesale energy, support for goals related to sustainability, and equity in everything from governance to market pricing.”
Markets+ is expected to launch in early 2027.
