FERC on Sept. 26 granted CAISO a waiver allowing Portland General Electric to join the ISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) a few months beyond the deadline set out in the EDAM’s standard participation agreement (ER24-2444). 

The pro forma EDAM Entity Implementation Agreement on file with FERC allows CAISO and a prospective EDAM participant flexibility to work out a specific start date based on the participant’s needs to prepare for market membership, but it also requires that the date be no later than 24 months after the agreement was executed. 

CAISO and Oregon-based PGE signed the agreement July 2, but the utility had asked to join the EDAM in fall 2026, which would put its start time outside the two-year window. 

In requesting the waiver, CAISO argued that PGE would need more than 24 months from the effective date of the agreement to implement the technology needed to start participating in the EDAM, but that PGE’s early signature would allow the utility and the ISO to immediately begin work on implementation issues in parallel with PacifiCorp, which plans to join the market in spring 2026. (See PacifiCorp Fully Commits to CAISO’s EDAM.)   

The ISO said granting the waiver would allow for joint implementation meetings and early engagement with vendors that otherwise would not be possible. PGE then would be able to complete other readiness tasks required for it to be fully equipped to join the EDAM in fall 2026. 

In its comments on the request, PGE said the waiver would be crucial to the success of its entry into the EDAM because of the complexity of integrating its transmission and technology systems with the ISO’s technology, and that the complexity could best be addressed by working in parallel with PacifiCorp. 

In granting the waiver, the commission found  CAISO acted in good faith because it filed the waiver request one business day after the two parties signed the implementation agreement. It also agreed with the ISO that the request was limited in scope because it was a one-time extension of the EDAM entity implementation date for a “discrete” market agreement. 

“Third, we find that granting CAISO’s request addresses a concrete problem; CAISO and Portland General state that more than 24 months from the effective date of the EDAM implementation agreement are needed to complete the work necessary to allow Portland General to start participating in EDAM,” the commission wrote. “Specifically, the parties represent that [the] waiver will allow Portland General to participate in parallel and joint implementation work with PacifiCorp, which will support Portland General’s ability to begin EDAM participation in the fall of 2026.” 

The commission also determined that granting the waiver would not have “undesirable consequences” or harm third parties. 

“Instead, [the] waiver will allow CAISO and Portland General sufficient time to complete their work and coordinate with PacifiCorp,” it wrote.