Tri-State expands participation in CAISO Western Energy Imbalance Market
- Further expansion in CAISO WEIM follows Tri-State’s membership and launch of the Southwest Power Pool’s Western Energy Imbalance Service on Feb. 1, 2021.
- 80% of Tri-State’s member load is now within an energy imbalance market or regional transmission organization, with 100% of member load anticipated to be in an organized market in April 2022.
(April 2, 2021 – Westminster, Colo.) Wholesale power supply cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association expanded its participation in the CAISO Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) real-time energy market into New Mexico at midnight, April 1 as the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) balancing authority joined the market.
Participation in the WEIM follows the launch of the Southwest Power Pool’s Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) on Feb. 1. Tri-State is a member of the WEIS, which provides energy imbalance services for Tri-State’s loads and resources in significant portions of Colorado and Wyoming, and a portion of western Nebraska.
Tri-State’s expanded participation in the WEIM includes the loads of its eleven member cooperatives in New Mexico. Tri-State already has a portion of its Wyoming member load within the WEIM through the PacifiCorp balancing authority.
PNM, as the balancing authority, is the member entity in the WEIM. Tri-State has registered participating resources, and also is a Participating Resource Scheduling Coordinator within the WEIM. The two utilities worked closely together to successfully, and simultaneously, launch both PNM’s entry and Tri-State’s participating resources in the WEIM.
“PNM, CAISO, and Tri-State’s close collaboration enabled us to have a smooth entry into the market,” said Duane Highley, Tri-State CEO. “We greatly appreciate the professionalism of the PNM and CAISO staff, who we worked with over many months to enter the market.”
Tri-State now has 80% of its load within an energy imbalance market or regional transmission organization. On April 1, 2022, when its remaining Colorado load is anticipated to also participate in the WEIM, Tri-State will have 100% of its load in an organized market.
“Energy imbalance markets provide immediate benefits to Tri-State by efficiently using the transmission system, better integrating renewable resources and dispatching the lowest cost resources,” Highley said. “While participating in the CAISO WEIM and membership in the SPP WEIS are significant steps forward, Tri-State remains focused on joining a western regional transmission organization that would deliver the full benefits of an organized market to reliably and affordably reach our members’ clean energy goals.”
With other regional power suppliers, Tri-State is evaluating membership in the SPP regional transmission organization that would provide significant savings and advance Tri-State’s clean energy transformation through its Responsible Energy Plan.
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About Tri-State
Tri-State is a wholesale power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, with 45 members, including 42 utility electric distribution cooperative and public power district members in four states that together deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West. For more information about Tri-State, visit www.tristate.coop.
Contact:
Lee Boughey, 303-254-3555, lboughey@tristategt.org
Mark Stutz, 303-254-3183, mstutz@tristategt.org