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 Pathways Step 2 proposal offers a blueprint for divvying up functions between CAISO and the RO that backers envision will provide an independent framework for governing the ISO’s Western markets.

A representative of one of the staunchest opponents of past efforts to transform CAISO into an RTO said his labor union plans to sponsor the legislation needed to implement the “Step 2” proposal of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative.

Key backers of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative told state energy officials they’re confident California lawmakers next year will pass a bill needed to relax state oversight on CAISO’s markets and establish the "RO" envisioned by the initiative.

A single Western market is one of the safest bets to address the region’s reliability and cost issues in the face of extreme weather events, proponents of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative said during a panel discussion.

CAISO will recommend its board approve a proposal to eventually give the WEM Governing Body increased authority over both the Western EIM and EDAM.

Participants in the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative face a busy meeting schedule this summer as the group’s leaders look to advance on parallel fronts to develop a Western “regional organization.”

Backers of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative will move quickly on a proposal to alter the governance of CAISO’s Western EIM and EDAM after voting to approve the plan.

Reps from two groups that blocked past efforts to “regionalize” CAISO predict success for an upcoming campaign to change California law to allow the ISO to participate in an independent RTO.