SPP has welcomed back Carrie Simpson, a former six-year staffer with extensive market design expertise, to lead the continued development of its service offerings in the Western Interconnection.

The RTO on Thursday announced Simpson’s appointment as director of Western services development, effective Nov. 1. Working with SPP’s Western stakeholders, she will direct the ongoing development and implementation of wholesale markets and other services.

Simpson left SPP for Xcel Energy-Colorado in 2015 after playing a critical role in helping design and draft the rules for the grid operator’s Integrated Marketplace. The Day 2 market launched in 2014 and serves as the foundation for the RTO’s Western market offerings.

“Developing services that address the needs of the Western Interconnection is a huge opportunity,” Simpson said in a statement. “I look forward to working with stakeholders across the west in my new role to develop solutions that support affordable, reliable electricity for the whole region.”

As Xcel Energy-Colorado’s Western markets director, Simpson and her team were responsible for analyzing and evaluating participation in organized wholesale markets. She already has strong relationships with Western stakeholders and established herself as one of the key subject-matter experts participating in SPP’s Markets+’s development, one of the RTO’s six different Western services. (See SPP Woos Western Utilities with Markets+ Offering.)

“We’re very excited to welcome Carrie back to SPP,” said Bruce Rew, SPP’s senior vice president of operations. “She has extensive knowledge and experience in operations and market design, as well as collaboration in the Western Interconnection.”

In an email to Western stakeholders, Rew said Simpson will work closely with them to ensure SPP’s Western energy services continue to “reflect the collaborative, mutually beneficial partnerships we’ve established since 2018,” when the grid operator announced its intent to act as a reliability coordinator for Western utilities.

That service went live in 2019 and was followed by the Western Energy Imbalance Service Market in 2021. That same year, the Western Power Pool selected SPP to operate its Western Resource Adequacy Program. The grid operator is also assessing whether to expand its RTO in the West.

SPP said Simpson’s role is new and reflects the company’s “commitment to pursuing strategic opportunities to enhance electric reliability and affordability in the Western part of the U.S.”

Simpson, who has 18 years of industry experience, has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado.