Dive Brief:
- The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) will gain three full members this evening when it takes operational control of the Integrated System (IS) at midnight tonight, RTO Insider reports.
- SPP has been providing balancing services since June to the three IS systems: Western Area Power Administration’s Upper Great Plains Region, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, and the Heartland Consumers Power District.
- While SPP has expanded its footprint to include portions of 14 states, it will also lose Lubbock Power & Light as a member in 2019 when the utility joins the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
Dive Insight:
The Southwest Power Pool will gain three full members at midnight when it takes over operational control of the Integrated System. While it has been providing balancing services since summer, the shift tonight means SPP will add six states to its operational footprint: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming.
“It’s a significant change for SPP, considering the amount of area we’re responsible for and the parties we’re responsible for as members,” said SPP COO Carl Monroe. “We’re extending our footprint and ensuring SPP’s members will get the benefits of our services.”
SPP officially incorporated the Integrated System on June 1, taking the RTO to 14 states and adding 5,000 MW of capacity and 9,500 miles of power lines. The addition of Western-UGP is the first federal power agency integrated into an RTO under FERC Order 2000, which encouraged voluntary regional transmission systems.
Lubbock Power & Light, however, has indicated it will leave SPP in 2019 to join ERCOT.
"The decision to seek ERCOT interconnection is a dynamic choice aligning our interests with the interests of Texas," the utility said. The benefits include: eliminating the need to build a power plant, at a cost of up to $700 million; providing access to 550 generation units and over 1,100 active market participants; and allowing the utility to cut wholesale power costs by eliminating fixed capacity charges.
