Colorado Springs Utilities announced Wednesday it will join the Southwest Power Pool next April, a move that will offer the city-owned electricity provider greater access to buy and sell renewable energy and potentially save millions of dollars over time. We do feel like it’s going to be definitely good for our ratepayers, said Lisa Barbato, general manager of the energy supply department.
Utilities entered a joint dispatch agreement last year that eased the process of buying and selling power among local providers like Xcel Energy. That has saved Utilities $2.4 million, she said.
The new agreement will allow Utilities access to a larger market for electricity, known as the Western Energy Imbalance Service, a subset of the Southwest Power Pool.