(DENVER, CO) Colorado utility Xcel Energy blew a hole in
Southwest Power Pool's plans for a western power market when the company
announced late Friday it had dropped out of the Mountain West Transmission
Group. SPP had been working with the informal group of power providers for
months to try and join the power market - and SPP had advanced the effort as
recently as last month. Xcel didn't respond to a request for comment, but the
press release said there were "limited benefits" in the effort and "increasingly
uncertain costs."
Perhaps most intriguing to ME is the company's point that
"Xcel now sees few opportunities for westward expansion of the RTO which
might have added to the value proposition." SPP faces competition from
both California's already established energy-imbalance market that includes
utilities in the Pacific Northwest and Nevada, and a nascent joint project
between eastern market operator PJM Interconnection and western reliability
manager PEAK. Xcel's press release did not say if it had engaged with either of
these other projects.
