As long as entities across the West remain committed to continued regional trade, coordination, and reciprocal efforts to enable market participation, there can be significant benefits for the region at large, say Chris Robinson and Scott Simms.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative soon will begin the nomination process to select the initial board of the independent regional organization that will govern CAISO’s energy markets.

A wide variety of stakeholders — including representatives of the DER sector — will serve as advisers to the Pathways Initiative as it enters its next phases.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the bill that will allow CAISO to transition the governance of its markets to an independent “regional organization,” along with five other bills related to energy and emissions.

With California passing the bill designed to transition the governance of CAISO’s markets to an independent regional organization, new challenges await the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative as the coalition seeks to turn a once-elusive goal into reality.

California lawmakers have passed a landmark bill that will allow CAISO to transition the governance of its markets to the independent “regional organization” envisioned by the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative.

California lawmakers have shifted the legislation designed to transition governance of CAISO’s markets to an independent “regional organization” into a different bill — AB 825.

Six Western U.S. senators came out in support of the California legislation needed to transform CAISO’s market into an independent regional energy market, saying in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom the bill promises "improved grid reliability and significant energy cost savings.”

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative is preparing to file the incorporation documents for the independent RO that will govern CAISO’s energy markets, while funding challenges remain.

After months of negotiations, the author of the California legislation needed to transform CAISO’s market into an independent regional energy market for the West is confident the state legislature will have a bill to vote on before the session wraps up