Chelan PUD commissioners voted on Oct. 20 for the Washington State PUD to join Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+.
Markets+ is a day-ahead and real-time energy market, made up of an interconnected network of electricity providers that span across the northwest, southwest and Rocky Mountain states.
"By joining Markets+, Chelan PUD can continue to trade efficiently with its neighboring energy providers, including Bonneville Power Administration and Puget Sound Energy," the PUD noted.
Markets+ will also expand the diversity of renewable and clean energy technologies available to Chelan PUD –- from solar power and battery energy storage to wind and hydropower -- from Canada to Arizona.
“The way utilities buy and sell energy is changing, and we have to adapt in a way that provides the most value for our customers,” said Chelan PUD Chief Energy Resource Officer Janet Jaspers. “It’s in our customer-owners’ interest to choose a centralized energy market that prioritizes reliability, independent governance and values hydropower.”
Markets+ will provide a more efficient use of the region’s transmission system, improving regional energy flows to better serve customer needs. Markets+ also integrates with the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP), which is the first regional reliability planning and compliance program in the history of the West, the PUD said.
Chelan PUD noted that it produces more than enough power annually to meet local demand for electricity. Most of Chelan PUD’s surplus energy is sold as part of long-term energy contracts.
What’s changing is the way Chelan PUD conducts day-ahead and real-time trading, which is less than 5% of the PUD’s wholesale energy revenue. Those trades are important to support operations, in case Chelan PUD needs to shore up supply, or has more-than-expected energy to sell.
The transition to centralized energy markets in the West is driven by several factors: More intermittent renewables – such as wind and solar – are coming onto the grid and 24/7 baseload energy from coal and natural gas are being retired, and energy demand is growing exponentially, it said.
Chelan PUD helped guide the development of Markets+, and contributed nearly $1.3 million as one of several utilities that funded the estimated $150 million implementation effort.
Chelan PUD expects to become operational in Markets+ in 2028.
