SPP on Monday added Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline as its first pipeline company member in what the RTO says is part of its effort to “strategically align” with fuel resources and improve the coordination between the electric and gas industries.

The RTO said it has had an “effective working” relationship with Southern Star for nearly 10 years, as evidenced by the collaboration between the two during the February winter storm to address fuel supply issues in their shared footprint.

SPP’s comprehensive review of the winter weather event identified gas supply issues as one of the primary reasons for forced generation outages that ultimately led to the grid operator’s first load sheds in its 80-year history. The report included three recommendations related to improving gas-electric coordination. (See SPP, Members Begin Response to February’s Winter Storm.)

“Southern Star has a similar corporate culture to SPP and is very customer-focused,” C.J. Brown, SPP’s director of systems operations, said in a statement. “We have helped educate both organizations’ staff about our respective business, and that has been extremely helpful as we experienced operational issues.”

Southern Star CEO Jimmy Staton said, “We look forward to building strategic initiatives to improve gas-electric harmonization across the country benefiting all stakeholders while finding efficiencies as energy providers.”

The Kentucky-based company will be included in SPP’s large-retail customer segment, increasing the grid operator’s membership total to 107. It owns 5,800 miles of pipelines in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas and Nebraska.