FERC Advances SPP’s Plans for Western Power Market

Antoine Lucas (Photo provided by SPP)

Southwest Power Pool, the not-for-profit electric grid overseer based in Little Rock, announced a significant milestone in its planning for a day-ahead and real-time wholesale energy market to serve entities in the Western Interconnection.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved a phase two funding agreement and a mechanism for funding development of the market, known as Markets+.

On April 18, the FERC also accepted SPP’s clarifying edits to its Markets+ tariff, which the panel approved on Jan. 16.

SPP Chief Operating Officer Antoine Lucas said the developments “represent meaningful steps in progress toward launching Markets+ and bringing the West closer to realizing the substantial value” of a robust regional power market.

“SPP is proud to see the hard work of the Markets+ stakeholders pay off in this series of approvals that clear the path toward market launch in 2027,” Lucas said.

The funding deal details how SPP will finance the $150 million cost of launching the market and later recover that cost. Eight participating Western utilities and groups have already signed the agreement. They operate a mix of power generation plants delivering 216 million megawatt hours in the Desert Southwest, Pacific Northwest and Mountain West regions of the Western Interconnection.

The funding mechanism explains how SPP will finance the implementation phase of the market’s development, the regional transmission organization said in a news release.

“During phase two of Markets+ development, stakeholders and staff will collaborate to develop the systems, processes, and operations needed to conduct market trials and launch and operate the market,” the release said.

“Markets+ represents a significant opportunity to improve efficiency across the Western Interconnection and to bring reliability and economic benefits to customers,” SPP Vice President of Markets Carrie Simpson said. “These approvals mark a subtle but significant point in our market implementation effort to enable the next phase of development.”

SPP ensures reliable power supplies, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale electricity prices to its members in 14 states.