WECC: A Tale of Two Competing Markets

WECC: A Tale of Two Competing Markets

Cooperation among Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) utilities has slowly been building momentum amid a backdrop of renewable buildout, thermal retirements, and clean energy policy evolution. This expansion may be close to a tipping point toward much broader market expansion. A seismic shift looms as SPP and CAISO compete to expand their market operations into the WECC, potentially ushering in a new era of price transparency and transaction capability.

In a recent webinarpreviewing Ascend's WECC Market Outlook,Dr. Gary Dorris, CEO at Ascend Analytics, joined Dr. Brent Nelson, Managing Director of Markets and Strategy, and Dominique Bain, Energy Markets Economist, to discuss WECC market dynamics and the rapidly accelerating opportunities for project development and contracting in the west.

Key Takeaways 

  • California load and supply dominate power flows in the west, with import and export dynamics undergoing significant change. Decisions in California have a history of significantly impacting surrounding states.
  • Market expansion choices for utilities may not be obvious. Although geographic footprint matters, governance remains perhaps the most critical issue. Current governance for California's Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM) does not include voices from outside the state, which is a non-starter for many utilities. Alternately, SPP Markets+ has made it a point to include all possible participating utilities from the beginning.
  • The west holds an abundance of open land and diverse resources, much with close proximity to load. Because geospatial barriers limit the degree of resource coordination across large distances, new resources will need to be built in a variety of locations.
  • Peak load is forecasted to grow by about 1.5% per year across the WECC region, combined with most coal retiring before 2032. Together, these create a need for over 60 GW of new, mostly clean dispatchable capacity.
  • Solar resource potential is strong through most of the WECC, with the desert Southwest having one of the best solar resources in the world.  
  • Leveraging analysis from Ascend Market Intelligence™, the webinar offers guidance for where, what, and when to add new capacity resources in WECC. 

Access the full webinar now.

Interested in Learning More?  

AscendMI™ (Ascend Market Intelligence) delivers proprietary power market forecasts that have been trusted in hundreds of projects and resource planning activities, supporting over $25 billion in project financing assessments. Contact us to learn more. 

Speakers

No items found.

WECC: A Tale of Two Competing Markets

August 2, 2024

 | 

Blog

Cooperation among Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) utilities has slowly been building momentum amid a backdrop of renewable buildout, thermal retirements, and clean energy policy evolution. This expansion may be close to a tipping point toward much broader market expansion. A seismic shift looms as SPP and CAISO compete to expand their market operations into the WECC, potentially ushering in a new era of price transparency and transaction capability.

In a recent webinarpreviewing Ascend's WECC Market Outlook,Dr. Gary Dorris, CEO at Ascend Analytics, joined Dr. Brent Nelson, Managing Director of Markets and Strategy, and Dominique Bain, Energy Markets Economist, to discuss WECC market dynamics and the rapidly accelerating opportunities for project development and contracting in the west.

Key Takeaways 

  • California load and supply dominate power flows in the west, with import and export dynamics undergoing significant change. Decisions in California have a history of significantly impacting surrounding states.
  • Market expansion choices for utilities may not be obvious. Although geographic footprint matters, governance remains perhaps the most critical issue. Current governance for California's Extended Day Ahead Market (EDAM) does not include voices from outside the state, which is a non-starter for many utilities. Alternately, SPP Markets+ has made it a point to include all possible participating utilities from the beginning.
  • The west holds an abundance of open land and diverse resources, much with close proximity to load. Because geospatial barriers limit the degree of resource coordination across large distances, new resources will need to be built in a variety of locations.
  • Peak load is forecasted to grow by about 1.5% per year across the WECC region, combined with most coal retiring before 2032. Together, these create a need for over 60 GW of new, mostly clean dispatchable capacity.
  • Solar resource potential is strong through most of the WECC, with the desert Southwest having one of the best solar resources in the world.  
  • Leveraging analysis from Ascend Market Intelligence™, the webinar offers guidance for where, what, and when to add new capacity resources in WECC. 

Access the full webinar now.

Interested in Learning More?  

AscendMI™ (Ascend Market Intelligence) delivers proprietary power market forecasts that have been trusted in hundreds of projects and resource planning activities, supporting over $25 billion in project financing assessments. Contact us to learn more. 

About Ascend Analytics

Ascend Analytics is the leading provider of market intelligence and analytics solutions for the energy transition. The company’s offerings enable decision makers in power development and supply procurement to maximize the value of planning, operating, and managing risk for renewable, storage, and other assets. From real-time to 30-year horizons, their forecasts and insights are at the foundation of over $50 billion in project financing assessments. Ascend provides energy market stakeholders with the clarity and confidence to successfully navigate the rapidly shifting energy landscape.

Latest

Blog