Dive Brief:
- California's real-time wholesale power market will open up to systems outside its footprint today in a month-long test aimed at better integrating renewables into the western grid.
- Portland-based PacifiCorp will operate its Energy Imbalance Market system system in parallel with the California ISO system for 31 days. After a month of testing, the market will begin financially binding operations on November 1.
- The market will begin operations with three authorities participating out of 38 who balance power supply and demand in their portions of the western North American grid.
Dive Insight:
The new market enables power to be bought in five-minute increments, helping to match fluctuations in solar and wind power generation. E&E Publishing reports that participants in the new market are anticipating reductions to operating costs, as the new market will smooth out bumps and make more efficient balancing transactions.
California ISO approved an operating plan for the market in September, agreeing that initially running it in parallel with PacifiCorp "allows both companies to gain experience operating the highly sophisticated real-time systems using real market data and avoid tinkering with the systems, if necessary, while the market is live."
PacifiCorp will retain all of its normal grid reliability and transmission service responsibilities after joining the imbalance market, the Energy Information Administration noted. "CAISO will not assume any grid operator duties for PacifiCorp's service areas apart from the subhourly scheduling and dispatch of PacifiCorp's EIM-participating generators."
