Publish Date: February 5, 2020
Policymakers, utilities, and other stakeholders in the West are considering proposals to develop and expand broader regional wholesale market constructs. Electricity planning and resource procurement in the West is currently spread across 38 separate balancing authorities.
This is in contrast with several other regions of the country, where utilities and balancing authorities have joined together to rely on a single entity to ensure reliable operation of the grid, share resources over a broader geographic area, and use competition to drive efficient market operations.
At the same time, any effort by Western states to create a broader, more coordinated regional wholesale market and transmission grid should address challenges that have been faced by other regions. For example, it will be key to address how the authority of each state in the West to establish and implement its own energy policy priorities will be preserved.
With these factors in mind, AEE has developed a set of principles to inform and guide discussion among Western states about options to create a broader regional wholesale market and more coordinated transmission grid.
Please fill out the form to download the principles.