Southwest Power Pool members elected 40-year industry veteran Mark Crisson to the RTO’s Board of Directors Tuesday, expanding the board to 10 members.

The SPP Board of Directors approved a 13.2% increase in the RTO’s administrative fee and a 6.6% boost in its budget for 2017.

The Southwest Power Pool Board of Directors and Members Committee decided to take no further action on the contentious Z2 crediting issue.

Southwest Power Pool CEO Nick Brown said during his president’s report that cybersecurity issues will be SPP's biggest challenge in 2017.

The SPP Board of Directors agreed to give transmission customers an extra 50 months to pay their Z2 bills while also creating a new task force to address complaints of members.

Less than a year after enjoying a 2-cent reduction in SPP’s administrative fee, the RTO’s members are now facing the prospect of a 4-cent hike for 2017.

SPP executives had “inappropriate” involvement in the oversight of its Market Monitoring Unit (MMU), FERC says in an audit report that calls for changes.

SPP said it is seeking industry experts to serve on a second independent panel to review Order 1000 transmission proposals in 2017.

SPP’s Z2 crediting project may now stretch into 2017 after the Board of Directors sided with stakeholders and delayed a vote on waiver requests.

FERC effectively ended their 13-month inquiry of the SPP audit of MMU's independence without interviewing Oversight Committee Joshua W. Martin III.