CAISO

Abengoa and Starwood Energy Win a 114-mile Transmission Line in the Southwest, US

Abengoa and Starwood Energy’s joint venture was selected by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) as the approved sponsor to finance, construct, own, operate and maintain the Delaney to Colorado River 500-kV transmission line project. Abengoa and Starwood Energy will undertake joint development of the 114-mile transmission line, reinforcing the electrical interconnection between both California and Arizona. Abengoa will undertake construction, operation and maintenance of the transmission line.

EPA's Clean Power Plan

Charting a Path Forward

With respect to the Clean Power Plan, the question is whether EPA will address the major issues and reinforce its positions in advance of the anticipated legal challenges.

PG&E Wins Right to Develop Two New Transmission Substations

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) was selected by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to build, own and operate two new electric substations in California's Central Valley and South Bay. The new high voltage substation at Wheeler Ridge Junction will help improve electric service reliability in Bakersfield, especially in the hot summer months when demand for power is higher. The substation projects will need to undergo an approval process through the California Public Utilities Commission.

Unwinding the Death Spiral

Rooftop solar, net metering, and the perils of utilityspeak.

The Sierra Club accuses utilities of trying to snuff out rooftop solar. Attorney Donald Sipe recommends RTO/ISO markets for natural gas.

Life in the Transco Age

The competitive transmission genie is out of the bottle.

FERC Orders 890 and 1000 have opened the doors to independent transcos, heralding an era of innovation to solve reliability and capacity problems.

Industry in Transition

Utility CEOs face disruptive trends.

Top executives at AEP, the California ISO, and El Paso Electric address key challenges and opportunities.

Unleash the Genie

Former FERC Commissioner Bill Massey says we shouldn't bottle the genie of competition as Fortnightly author Doug Jones advocated in May 2013. Instead, he says, the genie's shackles should be removed so market forces can produce maximum efficiency and value for customers.

Congestion on Trial

PJM and the crisis over FTR underfunding.

PJM’s latest crisis—the underfunding of financial transmission rights that we’ve seen over the last few years—pushes regulators right to the edge. How far do they trust wholesale power markets? Do they accept the idea, proven by a famous economist, that freely traded financial instruments can work just as well—better even—than firm, physical contract rights?

In PJM’s case, we are told, the problem occurs when too much negative congestion shows up in real-time balancing. But if congestion is bad, shouldn’t negative congestion be good?

Digest

TVA moving ahead with Babcock & Wilcox mPower small modular reactor; Bechtel begins refueling and uprate work at Xcel's Monticello plant; NRG starts operations at 66-MW PV facility; NIST starts developing cybersecurity framework under presidential order; BPA to upgrade HVDC converter station; PacifiCorp working with CAISO to create real-time energy market; Cupertino Electric to install 230-kV line for 200-MW PV plant; plus contracts and announcements from Alstom, Siemens, Echelon, EPRI, Sempra, and others.

PacifiCorp to partner with CAISO

PacifiCorp and the California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO) entered a memorandum of understanding that commits the two largest grid operators in the western United States to work toward creating a real-time energy imbalance market (EIM) by October 2014. If implemented, PacifiCorp – which controls two balancing authorities primarily covering portions of six states, including part of Northern California – would participate in a co-optimized real-time energy market facilitated by the ISO. The joint agreement applies only to the EIM service.