The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee will hire an executive staffing firm and is considering funding sources as it advances to the next phases of building the independent organization that will govern CAISO’s energy markets.
The committee is seeking $7 million to $8 million in start-up costs for the Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE). The money will cover costs from 2026 to 2027, Jim Shetler, general manager of the Balancing Authority of Northern California, said at Pathways’ monthly stakeholder meeting Oct. 31.
“We’re in the process of refining and making sure we covered the necessary costs,” Shetler said. “We currently are looking at three main tranches of funding.”
The funding alternatives include stakeholder contributions, grants and debt financing.
Pathways received a commitment under former President Joe Biden’s administration to underwrite the committee’s efforts to establish ROWE to oversee CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) and Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM). (See Feds Pause $1M Pathways Initiative Funding, Group Leader Says.)
However, Shetler said, “it’s rather doubtful that we will get that federal grant.”
“We are starting to outreach to other entities, to look at private sector entities who may be willing to provide grant funds for this effort, and [we] have had some initial conversations around that,” Shetler added.
On Oct. 29, the Launch Committee issued a request for proposals to pay $420,000 for an executive staffing firm to assist in seating ROWE’s independent board and hiring of initial key staff.
The RFP notes that because of “funding limitations,” the committee is considering two options for support: basic support, including assisting in scheduling candidate interviews and preparing agendas; or routine support, which would include tasks such as vetting potential candidates and coordinating interviews.
The independent board will initially have five members, with two additional members to be added after tariff changes are approved by FERC.
“The board selection process will begin in January, so the nominating committee will begin to really meet in earnest the beginning of next year. The goal is to find five board members to be seated by or around July of 2026,” said Kathleen Staks, executive director of Western Freedom and co-chair of the Launch Committee.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 825 into law on Sept. 19, allowing CAISO and investor-owned utilities to participate in ROWE. (See Newsom Signs Calif. Pathways Bill into Law.)
One goal in establishing the organization was to remove what some see as a barrier to wider participation in CAISO-run markets by ensuring they are not governed solely by officials and stakeholders in California. Another goal is to continue to “add additional market services that are voluntary for any Western stakeholders who want them,” Staks said.
“So being able to go from just overseeing the EIM and EDAM to adding additional services as Western stakeholders demand them is a really critical function,” Staks said. “This is not just independent governance over these energy markets. It is independent governance over all of the functions and offerings that go beyond that.”
