The California Independent System Operator (ISO) has approved TransWest Express LLC’s application to become an ISO participating transmission owner and to join the ISO’s balancing authority area.
According to the board’s decision, additional steps that must be completed include TransWest’s execution of a transmission control agreement and FERC’s acceptance of TransWest’s transmission owner tariff. TransWest and the ISO have executed an applicant PTO agreement, which will be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January.
The ISO will operate the TWE Project as part of its long-distance, high-voltage transmission system network. The California ISO is the largest of the 38 balancing authorities within the Western Interconnection and is responsible for matching generation with load and maintaining consistent electric frequency of the grid. The ISO manages the flow of electricity for approximately 80% of California and a small part of Nevada, delivering wholesale electricity to local utilities for distribution.
The TWE Project is a 732-mile high-voltage interregional transmission system with HVDC and HVAC segments that will connect to the existing grid in Wyoming, Utah and southern Nevada. The TWE Project will deliver wind energy from Wyoming, home of the best winds in the continental United States, to California and other western renewable energy markets. The first stage of the TWE Project is expected to be completed in 2027.
“The interregional TWE Project is designed to deliver renewable energy and reliability benefits across the west,” says Roxane Perruso, TransWest’s COO. “We look forward to continuing our work with the ISO to assure the TWE Project becomes a productive and positive addition to the ISO system.”
