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Southwest Power Pool Absorbs Western Integrated System

1 min read

Southwest Power Pool officially has absorbed an integrated transmission system that covers several midwestern and western U.S. states, the regional transmission organization said.

At midnight on Thursday, SPP officially assumed control of the regional system that comprised the federal Western Area Power Administration’s Upper Great Plains Region; Basin Electric Power Cooperative of Bismarck, North Dakota; and Heartland Consumers Power District of Madison, South Dakota.

The transfer marked the final step in the integrated system (IS) joining the Little Rock RTO. Western’s territory covers customers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. 

The SPP footprint now spans almost 575,000 square miles in all or parts of 14 states in the central U.S. and includes more than 800 generating plants, nearly 5,000 substations and about 56,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, the company said.

According to SPP, the integrated system will add about 5,000 megawatts of peak demand and 7,600 megawatts of generating capacity, including a three-fold increase in SPP’s current hydroelectric capacity. Plus, Western also represents the first federal power marketing administration to become a full RTO member, it said.

“The successful integration of the integrated system is a significant milestone for SPP as we prepare to celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2016,” said SPP President and CEO Nick Brown. “The IS further diversifies our membership with the addition of a federal agency and creates a more robust transmission network to meet the electrical demand across the region and efficiently operate a wholesale energy market.”

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