seams
The formation of two competing day-ahead markets will create seams across the West, but at least one utility representative is more worried about seams resulting from the fracture of CAISO’s real-time Western Energy Imbalance Market.
MISO generation developers pushed back on MISO’s cost allocation of the $1.65 billion Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue, reportedly saying MISO’s late-stage alterations have eroded the value of the seams planning.
Though BPA removed any uncertainty by selecting SPP’s Markets+ over CAISO’s EDAM, the debate over whether BPA made the right choice likely will heat up as the West confronts a split into two major markets.
Bonneville's final record of decision will come as little surprise to those who’ve been following market developments in the West.
MISO is seeking judicial review of two FERC decisions preventing the RTO from recouping costs or revising a joint procedure with SPP over a shared North Dakota transmission line that has become congested by a new cryptocurrency mining facility.
SPP has appointed Jim Gonzalez as its new senior director of seams and Western services, in what will be a highly visible position in the RTO as it continues to develop Markets+ ahead of its expected launch in 2027.
FERC Chair Mark Christie and Commissioner Judy Chang downplayed the current political environment’s impact on the agency, saying the commission’s role is to follow the law and ensure the fairness of procedures.
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.
Public Service Company of Colorado asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for permission to join SPP’s Markets+.
BPA would have to strike several types of agreements, many of which are complex and could take years to implement, to tackle seams that could arise if BPA joins a day-ahead market, agency staff said during a workshop.
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