The Western Power Pool (WPP) on Aug. 31 took a major step toward implementing the first region-wide reliability planning and compliance program in the history of the West by filing a tariff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP) was started at the request of WPP’s customer utilities that were concerned about the issue of resource adequacy in the region, WPP said.
FERC’s approval of the tariff would allow WRAP to set terms and conditions for participation and allow for governance changes to be made. WPP is hoping for a final order from FERC giving approval by the end of this year.
The WRAP team intends to confirm commitments from potential participants for the next phase of their participation by mid-December.
“As we move forward, we will benefit from several seasons operating the WRAP on an informational, non-binding basis,” said WPP Director of Technology, Modeling, and Analytics Ryan Roy. “During this time, we will collect data, learn, and adjust before participants will be required to begin meeting WRAP requirements starting in Summer 2025.”
The filing follows unanimous approval of the tariff by the WPP Board of Directors in August.
So far, 26 utilities from the Northwest, parts of the desert Southwest, Canada and northern California have joined WRAP’s non-binding phase.
The filing submitted to FERC is available here.
