Southwest Power Pool (SPP) says it has completed the implementation of its integrated marketplace after filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) revisions to its open-access transmission tariff.
According to SPP, the tariff revisions will provide the regulatory framework for the integrated marketplace's operations.
‘With this filing, we have locked down the integrated marketplace's design,’ says SPP President and CEO Nick Brown. ‘We can now focus our collective energies on bringing the marketplace online, strengthening the region's grid reliability, and increasing cost savings and efficiencies.’
The integrated marketplace is scheduled to go live in March 2014, which SPP says will yield estimated annual net benefits of $100 million to the region. The marketplace will determine which generating units should run the next day for maximum cost-effectiveness, provide participants with greater access to reserve electricity, improve regional balancing of supply and demand, and facilitate the integration of renewable energy.
SPP says this filing culminated more than four years of work by SPP and its stakeholders to determine the appropriate design; develop and scrutinize the necessary marketplace protocols; and then develop, review and ultimately file the tariff revisions.
FERC's review of the filing is expected to take several months, and SPP has requested an order from the commission by July 1.
