SOUTHWEST POWER POOL GROWS ENERGY MARKETS EXPANDING RENEWABLE TRADING
On 1 February, Southwest Power Pool (SPP) launched a real-time balancing market initiative to include eight utilities and transmission authorities across the Midwest and Mountain-West regions of the United States. The new market, the Western Energy Imbalance Services (WEIS), is the latest in a growing trend to increase efficiency of wholesale energy markets. SPP’s self-stated goal is to leverage the abundance of renewable generation facilities in the middle of the country by integrating the electricity generated by those facilities into a more expansive grid to meet increased electricity demand. SPP will serve as the WEIS Market Administrator.