California senators heard arguments for and against the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, with some lawmakers voicing concerns about guardrails against market manipulation and what the effort means for the state's autonomy to set its own policies.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council must ensure forecast models consider President Donald Trump’s shifting energy priorities to ensure the council’s upcoming 20-year regional power plan stays relevant, board members contended during a recent meeting.

The Bonneville Power Administration announced it intends to join SPP’s Markets+, saying in its draft policy that the day-ahead market “is the best long-term strategic direction for Bonneville, its customers and the Northwest.”

DOE will allow the Bonneville Power Administration to reinstate 89 “probationary” employees and could provide the federal power agency exemptions from OPM’s reductions in force order, a BPA representative confirmed.

Proponents of SPP’s Markets+ argued in their last “issue alert” that the day-ahead market option provides a robust footprint with “exceptional generation and load diversity” across the region while also claiming recent warnings about its seam with CAISO’s EDAM are overblown.

The Bonneville Power Administration should remain in CAISO’s WEIM and hold off on joining a day-ahead market, Seattle City Light and other Northwest parties urged in a letter sent to BPA CEO John Hairston.

With data centers already causing “major disturbances” on the grid, the industry could learn lessons from the recent growth and implementation of IBRs, according to a new Elevate Energy Consulting study.

As some data center operators plan to power their facilities with onsite generation, one researcher a California Energy Commission workshop suggested it might be better to get electricity from the grid instead.

The federal government has put on hold nearly $1 million in funding toward the development of a new independent Western RO to oversee CAISO’s WEIM and EDAM, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee said.

The California electric resource portfolio incorporates 63 GW of clean energy and new storage by 2035 and will be sent to CAISO for use in its 2025/26 transmission planning process.