SPP Report Says it Saved Members $3.8B in 2022

Barbara Sugg, CEO of Southwest Power Pool

Southwest Power Pool of Little Rock announced billions in 2022 savings for its members and the not-for-profit regional electric grid overseer gave itself high marks for performance during the historic December winter storm known as Elliott.

SPP, mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure power supplies, adequate transmission equipment and competitive wholesale power prices for its members in 15 states, told a quarterly meeting of directors and others that it provided nearly $3.79 billion to its members last year.

SPP also published its 2022 annual report, outlining its accomplishments, growth and milestones in a challenging year for the energy industry. The regional transmission organization’s yearly member value statement was also presented, putting a value on its services to member organizations like reliability coordination, regional transmission planning, and market administration. The analysis, based on a methodology SPP developed with its stakeholders, found that it provided $3.787 billion in net savings to members last year. These benefits come at a 22-to-1 ratio in comparison to the cost of SPP membership.

“This remarkable benefit-cost ratio demonstrates we are driving value beyond reliability, a core tenet of SPP’s value proposition,” SPP President and CEO Barbara Sugg said in a statement.

Winter Storm Elliott

In a special report, SPP found that lessons learned from the February 2021 blizzard Winter Storm Uri were key to meeting the challenges of the Dec. 21-26, 2022 extratropical cyclone dubbed Winter Storm Elliott. The storm hit the entire SPP region and perhaps signaled that “historic” extreme weather events may become a regular experience for SPP.

Some of SPP’s recommended changes following Uri are still being developed, with top-tier recommendations expected to be complete by January 2024 and other recommendations by 2025. This review of Winter Storm Elliott identified additional changes to internal processes, tools and functions that could help it and its stakeholders be better prepared for future extreme events.

Grid of the Future

Finally, SPP’s Grid of the Future Report concerns an analysis conducted by its Future Grid Strategy Advisory Group over the last year-and-a-half. In 2021, SPP’s board gave the group two tasks: exploring how the electric grid will change over the next 10-15 years and making recommendations to SPP and its membership to prepare.

Their report identifies trends that could be disruptive and game changing for SPP and its members and makes recommendations in five categories: energy adequacy, modeling and planning; grid services, market design and operations; transmission; demand-side resources; and innovation and collaboration.

“While SPP staff are busy with their daily work of keeping the lights on, it’s vital that we’re prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving power grid,” SPP board chair Susan Certoma said in a news release.

The future of the electric grid is vitally important to stakeholders, the company said, and the grid advisory group’s research should set the stage for discussions among stakeholders to prepare SPP to meet members’ needs.