It’s an “all-hands-on-deck” moment for CAISO to open its extended day-ahead market in less than two months, CAISO’s CEO Elliot Mainzer said at a Western Energy Market Board of Governors meeting.

Conversations remained cordial despite the ongoing competition between CAISO and SPP in the west as the RTOs’ top executives took the stage at Yes Energy’s annual EMPOWER conference.

Black Hills Energy and PowerWatch are to join CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market, extending the market’s geographical reach into South Dakota, the ISO announced.

CAISO released a set of guiding principles for upcoming discussions about seams between the ISO, SPP and other entities as the Extended Day-Ahead Market nears its opening in May.

FERC has rescinded the West-wide wholesale electricity price cap mechanism it implemented in response to widespread price manipulation during the Western energy crisis of 2000/01, saying development of new markets and expanded authority has led to improved monitoring capabilities.

CAISO leaders staged a virtual “town hall” to stress the importance of a smooth rollout to the ISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market in May and promise to address market seams issues.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee asked CAISO to initiate a stakeholder process to create a funding mechanism for the newly incorporated organization that is slated to assume governance over the ISO’s energy markets.

As the West appears to move toward two separate day-ahead markets, data center developers like Google and clean energy companies are investing with the intent to mitigate seams and ensure operational consistency, panelists at an Advanced Energy United webinar said.

CAISO released its first mandatory report under the California assembly bill that paves the way for an independent regional organization to assume responsibility over the ISO’s energy markets.

Delaware approved the certificate of incorporation for the ROWE, and an executive search firm has been hired to vet candidates for the organization’s initial board, the Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee announced.