The California Independent System Operator serves about 80% of California's electricity demand, including the service areas of the state's three investor-owned utilities. It also operates the Western Energy Imbalance Market, an interstate real-time market covering territory that accounts for 80% of the load in the Western Interconnection.
The results from a WMEG study indicate that many entities outside California would see more benefits from a two-market outcome while the Golden State has the most to lose from such a split.
FERC approved an open access transmission tariff for the SunZia HVDC line in the Southwest, which will govern how the merchant project can sell any additional capacity it has going forward.
CAISO maintained normal grid operations during the Oct. 14 solar eclipse, with swings in solar production that were more muted than models based on clear-sky conditions.
The Western Power Pool floated a plan to revamp transmission planning in the West to spur development of the kind of large-scale transmission projects FERC’s Order 1000 has failed to produce.
As CAISO grapples with an “unprecedented” surge in interconnection requests, it has proposed prioritizing requests in zones where transmission capacity now exists or is under development.
When it comes to choosing between Western day-ahead market offerings, who else is participating in the market is a key consideration, a representative of a New Mexico utility said.
Western stakeholders expressed enthusiasm for the West-Wide Governance Pathway Initiative but called for more transparency in developing a regional market.
