By Robert Mullin CAISO’s latest draft of governing principles for a Western RTO is an improvement, but more changes are needed to win approval from regulators in the states in which PacifiCorp operates, speakers at a California Energy Commission (CEC) governance workshop said Monday. Edmonds | Linkedin “Our states are...

By Robert Mullin An isolated area of Mexico’s grid already interconnected with California could become the first non-U.S. participant in the Western Energy Imbalance Market. El Centro Nacional de Control de Energía (CENACE) — Mexico’s grid operator — and CAISO today announced an agreement to explore the benefits of having...

By Robert Mullin FERC last week agreed to consider whether the failure of some power sellers to file compliant price reports contributed to unreasonably high rates for long-term electricity contracts filed during the Western Energy Crisis of 2000-2001 (EL02-71-052). | FERC order EL02-60-007, April 12, 2016. The case, which involves...

By Robert Mullin A new research report indicates that the belly of CAISO’s “duck curve” is deepening more quickly than originally expected, with its effects increasingly spread across the year — and not just on the typical spring day depicted by the graph. The report from consulting firm ScottMadden also...

By Robert Mullin CAISO is seeking stakeholder input on developing procedures to ensure that the Energy Imbalance Market’s governing body and participants have a say in ISO policy initiatives that affect the operation of the market. The objective is to create a “guidance document” that spells out how CAISO staff...

By Robert Mullin Colorado-based environmental group Western Resource Advocates was an early proponent of CAISO’s Energy Imbalance Market and is actively supporting the ISO’s effort to transform itself into an RTO serving the broader West. Gardner | Western Resource Advocates RTO Insider spoke with senior policy advisor Nancy Kelly and...

By Robert Mullin CAISO last week released the third draft of a proposal outlining the governing framework for a Western RTO. The latest draft fleshes out concepts introduced in earlier versions, including the composition and role of the Transitional Committee to guide regionalization, and sets out a timeline for transitioning...

By Robert Mullin The entry of Arizona Public Service and Puget Sound Energy into the Western Energy Imbalance Market was largely “uneventful,” according to a CAISO official who helped lead the effort to integrate the two utilities into the region’s only real-time market. “I’ve been through three sets of transitions,...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. WASHINGTON — Seattle officials Monday deferred action on a proposal by the city-owned utility to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market. Seattle City Light could become the sixth utility to join the CAISO-run EIM, following recent additions Arizona Public Service and Puget Sound Energy, which began EIM operations...

By Robert Mullin FERC last week accepted Pacific Gas and Electric’s filing for a proposed rate increase under the utility’s transmission owner tariff, but the commission suspended implementation of the increase for five months out of concern that the proposed rates could yield “substantially excessive revenues.” The utility’s filing raised...