The Balancing Authority of Northern California has signed an agreement to join the California ISO’s extended day-ahead market, making it the third entity to formally commit to the regional day-ahead market offered by the California grid operator.
BANC is a Joint Powers Authority consisting of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Modesto Irrigation District, Roseville Electric, Redding Electric Utility, Trinity Public Utility District and the City of Shasta Lake as its founding Members.
“BANC is pleased to execute the EDAM implementation agreement with the ISO,” said Jim Shetler, BANC General Manager. He noted that CAISO's Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) has brought BANC and its members reliability, economic, and environmental benefits.
“EDAM participation is viewed as the next logical step to expand on those benefits. We look forward to working with the ISO to achieve a spring 2027 go-live date,” he said.
With the signed agreement, BANC joins PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric as participants in the EDAM. BANC has been participating in the ISO’s WEIM since 2019.
“We are excited to welcome BANC as the first public power balancing authority to formally commit to join EDAM,” said Elliot Mainzer, California ISO’s President and CEO. “They have been a valued partner whose voice has been instrumental to the design of EDAM, and we look forward to having them join the market to deliver more benefits to their customers.”
The EDAM, scheduled to launch in 2026, "builds on the proven track record of the WEIM. More than $6.25 billion in cost-saving efficiencies have been delivered to the WEIM’s 22 participants across 11 western states," CAISO said. The WEIM continues to grow with two additional participants expected to onboard in 2026.
Along with the three entities executing signed implementation agreements, another three entities have informed the ISO of their interest in joining the EDAM: the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, BHE Montana and PNM.
Two additional entities, Idaho Power and NV Energy, have indicated that they are leaning toward EDAM as their preferred day-ahead market.
Arizona G&T Cooperatives, utilities representing 70% of WAPA Desert Southwest’s load, also recently announced they are studying the benefits of joining EDAM.
In another development toward a regional market, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative Launch Committee approved its Step 2 Final Proposal last week, "promising a revised independent governance structure for an integrated power market across the West," CAISO said.
The adopted Step 2 proposal calls for the formation of a new, independent Regional Organization that would assume sole authority for the market rules for WEIM and EDAM.
Legislation would be necessary in California to enable the ISO markets to be governed by this new entity.
The Pathways Step 1 Proposal - approved jointly by the ISO Board of Governors and the Western Energy Markets (WEM) Governing Body in August – includes a trigger for implementation.
To begin governance restructuring to elevate the WEM Governing Body as primary authority over the market, commitments for non-ISO load in the EDAM must reach 70 percent of ISO load, and represent geographic diversity of western states.
BANC’s participation means the EDAM has achieved commitment of 53 percent of the non-ISO load compared to ISO load, and sets in place another building block of the west-wide interconnected day-ahead electricity market.
BANC’s implementation agreement is expected to be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission next month.
