Dive Brief:

• The  Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will join the California Energy Imbalance Market beginning in April 2019, making it the 11th utility to agree to join the voluntary market.
• Participating utilities balance their loads in real time, and the market has saved more than $170 million since launching in November 2014. 
• LADWP's decision comes just two days after the first international market participant to sign up: Powerex Corp., the energy marketing subsidiary of Canada's third largest utility, BC Hydro, will join the California ISO-managed market in April 2018.

Dive Insight:

It was a big week for California's EIM, adding both its first international participant and LADWP, one of the largest municipal utilities in the nation with 4 million customers. The market continues to grow, allowing participants to schedule power deliveries every 15 minutes with five-minute resource dispatching.

LADWP General Manager David Wright said that joining the market “means we all can more reliably integrate renewables and meet our energy goals."

LADWP began delivering water to customers in the region in 1902 and added power delivery in 1917.

Matching demand with renewable megawatts is an important function of the market. The California ISO curtailed about 80,000 MWh in March—up from 47,000 MWh in the same month in 2016. However, a recent report concluded that the EIM is helping to minimize curtailments. Members have also saved $173 million since the wholesale market was launched in November 2014.