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.
The proposed merger between Black Hills Corp. and NorthWestern Energy likely will reshape the map in the competition between CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market and SPP’s Markets+ — but it’s still too early to know where new boundaries will be drawn.
The Oregon Department of Energy’s new draft energy strategy points to the importance of new transmission development and expanding electricity markets for meeting the state's energy goals.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom again appeared to voice support for the proposed bill that would allow CAISO to relinquish market governance to an independent regional organization, saying the legislation can reduce electricity costs and improve reliability.
CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market provided participants with $422.44 million in economic benefits during the second quarter of 2025, up 15% compared with the same period year earlier despite no change in membership.
The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative will run its stakeholder processes separately from CAISO’s until the effort's regional organization is formally launched in 2028, even in areas of overlapping interest.
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.
Tri-State asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to find it would be in the public interest for the power supplier to join SPP, saying integrating with the RTO would bring significant benefits.
Outgoing FERC Chair Mark Christie and former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter both emphasized that the West controls the future of the Western interconnection, not Washington.
