Financial backers of Phase 2 of SPP’s Markets+ have until Feb. 14 to submit executed funding agreements, the RTO said in a monthly newsletter sent out Feb. 5.

SPP said it will distribute the agreements to “interested parties” — the key market participants — on Feb. 7. The RTO has estimated the Phase 2 implementation stage will cost about $150 million.

The Feb. 5 newsletter also said SPP is “working to finalize” Phase 2 “intent to participate” agreements and stakeholder agreements for non-funding parties, which should be distributed later this month.

Markets+ so far has received solid commitments from Powerex, Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power, UniSource Energy Services, El Paso Electric and Chelan County Public Utility District in Washington.

The funding agreement deadline could pose a challenge for the Bonneville Power Administration, which repeatedly has affirmed that it plans to shell out its estimated $25 million share for funding Phase 2 before making a decision to commit to the market. But BPA, which would be the second largest funder after Powerex, also recently indicated it still is working out details around the exact amount and timing of its payment. (See BPA Considers Impact of Fees in Day-ahead Market Choice.)

Speaking at a Jan. 28 workshop at BPA’s Portland, Ore. headquarters, staff told stakeholders the agency estimates it would incur $13 million to $15 million in annual operating costs to participate in Markets+, on top of the $25 million in implementation fees. By comparison, CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market would cost $2.5 million to $3 million in upfront implementation costs, with annual costs in the form of ISO grid management charges estimated at $29 million.

BPA did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication of this article.

Asked whether BPA might be allowed an exception to the deadline, SPP spokesperson Meghan Sever said: “Like with Phase 1, there will be a grace period to give entities the time needed to sign and return agreements.”

Sever also pointed out that non-funding parties signing agreements to participate in Phase 2 “will have a separate timeline for those agreements, which will be sent once the funding agreement process is complete.”

At a Feb. 4 meeting of SPP’s Board of Directors, SPP COO Antoine Lucas said the funding agreements already have been distributed for review by participants, and the RTO could receive those executed “as early as the middle of this month.”

Lucas said hitting the Markets+ scheduled go-live date of 2027 is “really going to depend upon the timeliness of receiving executed agreements to move forward with the market.”