SPP celebrates 20 years as an RTO with growth and added value for members
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) celebrated 20 years as a regional transmission organization (RTO) on Oct. 4. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved and designated SPP as an RTO on Oct. 4, 2004, positioning the grid operator to expand its services and value to its diverse group of members and leading to continued growth of the SPP footprint and more than $3.6 billion in annual benefits.
SPP was founded in 1941 by 11 electric utilities in support of the United States war effort during WWII and was a founding member of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in 1968. It began coordinating regional reserve sharing in 1991, was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Arkansas in 1994 and became a NERC-certified reliability coordinator in 1997.
Since becoming an RTO in 2004, SPP has expanded from eight to 14 states and successfully implemented two wholesale energy markets in the Eastern Interconnection and one market in the Western Interconnection.SPPdirected investment of more than $12 billion in new and upgraded transmission and added value to members by providing regional cost allocation and integrated transmission planning services. SPP’s membership now includes 116 diverse member companies with a record peak demand of 56 gigawatts (GW).
The reliable dispatch of cost-effective renewable energy to meet demand has also seen a massive increase over the last 20 years in the SPP region. Wind resources installed on the SPP system have grown more than tenfold from 3,000 MW to 33,725 MW, leading to a rapid change in SPP’s fuel mix. Wind has been the number one fuel source three of the last four years, and SPP’s robust transmission infrastructureand low-cost resource mixgive its market participants access tosome of the lowest wholesale energy prices in the country.
“SPP’s growth over the last two decades wouldn't be possible without relationships and collaboration with members, market participants, regulators, neighboring systems and other industry partners,” said Barbara Sugg, SPP president and CEO. “We value our stakeholders and sincerely appreciate the hard work and dedication they’ve provided to get us to where we are today.”
Since 2020, SPP has engaged with parties interested in evaluating the benefits and requirements of RTO membership in the Western Interconnection, leading to an expansion of the SPP RTO, which is scheduled to go live April 1, 2026. This monumental expansion will result in SPP being the first RTO to operate in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections.
In addition to the western expansion of its RTO footprint, the services SPP provides Western customers on a contract basis are also growing rapidly. SPP serves as the program administrator for the Western Power Pool’s Western Resource Adequacy Program, provides reliability coordination services for 11 entities in the Western Interconnection and is developing Markets+, a market designed to bring significant incremental value to the Western Interconnection. With the addition of Markets+ and new office and meeting space in Denver, Colorado, SPP is solidifying itself as a strong presence and valuable service provider in the West.
“As SPP’s services, footprint and value increase, we look forward to strengthening current relationships, establishing new ones and remain committed to working together to responsibly and economically keeping the lights on today and in the future,” said Sugg.