ORIGINAL REPORTING: California Moves Ahead On Western Region Power Market

California Grid Operator Aims for 2024 Regional Day-Ahead Market

Herman K. Trabish, October 18, 2021 (California Current)

Editor’s note: California and regional partners continue to design their market toward the 2024 goal.

The California-led real-time Energy Imbalance Market has delivered significant savings to Western power providers, but other regions’ market ambitions are threatening the plan to expand it to a day-head market in three years.

The Northwest Power Pool is developing a capacity sharing program, and the Southwest Power Pool is developing a day-ahead market. In addition, a new Xcel Energy-led Western Markets Exploratory Group, which includes potential Extended Day-Ahead Market participants, is “exploring all options,” Xcel spokesperson Julie Borgen said.

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In the California Independent System Operator’s new stakeholder process to put EDAM into operation in 2024, out-of-state EIM participants’ concerns about governance sharing will be “the first issue,” CAISO President and CEO Elliot Mainzer said at last week’s EDAM forum. Western states’ challenges from rising penetrations of variable renewables and climate-driven extreme weather events “are better resolved collaboratively than by balkanization,” he added.

Recent governance reform that shares authority between the CAISO and EIM members helped initiate a timely relaunch of the COVID-delayed EDAM stakeholder process, many said. But other stakeholders have serious reservations because of concerns about CAISO’s willingness to similarly share control in a regional day-ahead market.

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EIM governance reforms were a start, but EDAM will require significantly more, said Idaho Commissioner Kristine Raper. California must recognize and address states’ “different goals and legitimate interests.” EDAM governance sharing is solvable, Southern California Edison President and CEO Kevin Payne told the forum. Doing it will be “a key test” for CAISO’s stakeholder process, but California “is ready to sit down with other states.” EDAM is the “right track” and questions of governance can be answered collaboratively, Pacific Power President and CEO Stefan Bird said. Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. CEO Patty Poppe agreed… click here for more

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