Press Releases
Markets+ funding agreement and funding mechanism receive FERC approval
Markets+ is SPP’s in-development day-ahead and real-time market that will serve entities in the Western Interconnection. Market development reached a significant milestone today when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved both the Markets+ Phase Two Funding Agreement and the mechanism for funding the market’s development. On April 18, FERC also accepted SPP’s clarifying edits to its Markets+ Tariff, which it unanimously approved earlier this year on January 16.
Read MoreMarkets+ phase two development confirmed with western market commitments
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Weeks after receiving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval of the Markets+ Tariff, Southwest Power Pool (SPP) announced Feb. 14 it has received commitments sufficient to support the financing necessary for the next phase of development. Commitments from Arizona Public Service, Bonneville Power Administration, Chelan County PUD, Grant County PUD, Powerex, Salt River Project, Tacoma Power and Tucson Electric Power will support the build out of market systems beginning in Q2 2025 in anticipation of the market's launch.
Read MoreSPP’s Markets+ tariff receives FERC approval
SPP’s proposed Markets+ service reached a significant milestone Jan. 16 when it received approval of its tariff by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Markets+ is the regional, day-ahead energy market developed in collaboration between SPP and more than 30 western entities, anticipated to launch in 2027. This milestone achievement allows participants to begin phase two of Markets+ development following the execution of phase-two funding commitments.
Read MoreFERC requests additional information regarding Markets+ tariff filing; SPP coordinating response
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) received a letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 31 requesting additional information regarding the grid operator’s March 29 Markets+ tariff filing. SPP has already begun work considering these requests and is preparing responses that SPP leaders are confident will adequately demonstrate readiness to build and launch a regional, day-ahead market that effectively and equitably serves customers across the Western Interconnection.
Read MoreSPP files expanded regional transmission organization tariff to include western entities
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) reached a significant milestone June 4, when it filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) amendments to its tariff that include provisions specific to its western members. Pending FERC’s approval, SPP will become the first organization in the U.S. to provide full regional transmission organization (RTO) services in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections of the nation’s power grid beginning in early 2026.
Read MoreWestern utilities express support for continued Markets+ development
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) received a letter Friday, April 12 from 26 western entities indicating their support for continued development of Markets+. The letter is signed by organizations from the Pacific Northwest, Desert Southwest and Mountain West regions, which together represent approximately 57 GW of peak demand across ten states and one province in the Western Interconnection. The group highlights preferred aspects of the proposed market’s unique design and governance structure.
Read MoreSouthwest Power Pool Completes and Files Markets+ Tariff with Collaboration and Support from Western Stakeholders
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) reached a significant milestone in the development of its western day-ahead electricity market on Friday, March 29 when it filed its Markets+ tariff with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The achievement underscores SPP’s leadership in market development and dedication to fostering fair and equitable partnerships that prioritize the interests of all parties involved.
Read MoreSPP marks milestones and progress across western efforts in early November
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Since 2019 when Southwest Power Pool (SPP) officially became a reliability coordinator for several utilities in the Western Interconnection, the grid operator has steadily grown its western customer base and portfolio of western services. The first two weeks of November 2023 have seen SPP make significant progress in continuing to advance three of those services: its operation of the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP) on behalf of Western Power Pool; Markets+, SPP’s proposed bundle of day-ahead and real-time market services; and expansion of SPP’s regional transmission organization (RTO) services into the Western Interconnection.
Read MoreSPP RTO will expand with commitments from western utilities
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) will soon become the first organization in the U.S. to provide full regional transmission organization (RTO) services in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections of the nation’s power grid. SPP has received commitments from seven western utilities to become full members in the RTO. Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Colorado Springs Utilities, Deseret Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN), Platte River Power Authority, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, and three regions of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)—Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP), Rocky Mountain Region (RM) and Upper Great Plains-West (UGP)—are preparing to join the RTO in early 2026. The expansion of SPP’s service territory is expected to create economic and reliability benefits for its member companies through access to a larger generation fleet, greater geographic diversity, and increased trading opportunities in SPP’s energy markets.
Read MoreSPP’s Western Energy Imbalance Service Market (WEIS) provides millions in benefits, more than doubles in size
Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) 2022 WEIS Benefit of Market Report assesses the benefits that its regional, real-time Western Energy Imbalance Service Market (WEIS) provides participants. Its analysis estimates that the WEIS provided $31.7 million in net benefits to its 12 participating western utilities in 2022 at a benefit-to-cost ratio of 7-to-1. With the April 1 addition to the market of Xcel Energy-Colorado, Platte River Power Authority and Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC, SPP anticipates the benefits of the WEIS will grow significantly in the future.
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