Following a recent announcement that it plans to withdraw from the Western Resource Adequacy Program, NV Energy said it is discussing a potential new resource adequacy program with other participants in CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market.

Speaking during an Oct. 21 prehearing conference before the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, Lindsey Schlekeway, market policy director for NV Energy, described the program as “a high-level concept” and said there are no formal agreements yet.

The conference was regarding NV Energy’s energy supply plan update for 2026/27. Tim Clausen, NV Energy’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said the company would file a request with the PUCN to join the EDAM as an amendment to the company’s energy supply plan.

NV Energy announced in June 2024 that it plans to join EDAM rather than SPP’s Markets+. (See NV Energy Confirms Intent to Join CAISO’s EDAM.)

As part of an update on the supply plan, Schlekeway filed written testimony explaining the company’s decision to withdraw from Western Power Pool’s WRAP. She detailed five “critical issues,” including “steep penalties for capacity deficiencies identified seven months before the compliance season.” (See NV Energy to Withdraw from WRAP.)

Another issue is that all load-serving entities in Markets+ will be required to participate in WRAP.

“While expanding participation can enhance regional reliability, it may disadvantage entities that prefer to remain in the Western Energy Imbalance Market … or transition to the Extended Day-Ahead Market,” she wrote.

In contrast to Markets+, EDAM won’t require its participants to belong to an organized resource adequacy program. Instead, EDAM will use a resource sufficiency evaluation to ensure participants’ RA going into the day-ahead and real-time time frames to meet their own needs without depending on others.

NV Energy will continue to watch WRAP’s development and remain open to future participation if the five issues are addressed, Schlekeway said.

“We will continue to follow WRAP, but we will also follow other avenues if others want to discuss resource adequacy in other forums in the West,” Schlekeway told Commissioner Tammy Cordova, the hearing officer in the case.

Schlekeway said that even after submitting a withdrawal letter, NV Energy can remain active in WRAP through participation in WPP’s Resource Adequacy Participant Committee, for example.

Cordova asked what would happen if the PUC directed NV Energy to participate in WRAP. “We can always re-enter the program,” Schlekeway responded.

Contacted after the prehearing conference, Schlekeway referred further questions on a potential Western RA program to an NV Energy spokesperson, who said the company had no further comment.

Rebecca Sexton, chief strategy officer for WPP, told RTO Insider that the organization is “aware of discussions about creating an alternative resource adequacy program.”

Sexton hopes that any entities that choose to leave WRAP will stay involved with the program’s governance during the two-year exit window and later decide to commit to binding participation. With binding-phase commitments from 11 participants and the potential for others to join, she said WRAP will launch “with a significant footprint with substantial load and resources and geographic diversity.”

Critical Time for WRAP

The discussion of an alternative resource adequacy program comes at a critical time for WRAP.

An Oct. 31 deadline is looming for participants to commit to the program’s first binding phase in winter 2027/28. Of the 11 members that have so far committed to WRAP’s first binding season, all but one are expected to join Markets+.

But some members say they need more time. PacifiCorp has asked WPP’s board of directors to allow WRAP participants to defer their decision to commit to the program’s binding phase by at least one year. (See PacifiCorp Asks WPP to Delay WRAP ‘Binding’ Phase Commitment Date.)

Portland General Electric also sent WPP a letter seeking a one-year deferral of the binding season. PacifiCorp and PGE have signed implementation agreements with CAISO to become EDAM’s first participants in 2026.

In response letters to PacifiCorp and PGE, WPP Board Chair Bill Drummond said delaying the binding phase “would have a detrimental effect on reliability for the region, including undermining confidence in WRAP data and modeling, limiting program compliance and preventing us from unlocking the full benefits of the program.”

The Imperial Irrigation District, which is slated to join EDAM in fall 2028, has staff participating in discussions of a potential new Western RA program.

“Momentum has started, communication is active, and kickoff meetings have begun,” IID spokesperson Robert Schettler told RTO Insider.

The district wants to be fully aware of, and ready to use, the full menu of RA options, said Schettler, who noted that IID is a balancing authority that is a net exporter most of the year.

IID isn’t currently pursuing WRAP membership, although it is an option in the future, he said.

When contacted by RTO Insider, a PacifiCorp spokesperson did not directly answer a question about whether the company has been participating in discussions of a new RA program.

“As part of prudent utility operations, PacifiCorp routinely evaluates opportunities to benefit customers, and resource adequacy is a significant focus of that process,” the spokesperson said in an email.

PacifiCorp is considering its participation in the WRAP binding phase ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline, the spokesperson said, and plans to continue its involvement in the program regardless of the decision.