SPP last week rolled out the governance structure that will oversee the first developmental phase of Markets+, the RTO’s day-ahead and real-time market in the Western Interconnection.

The RTO said Markets+ will provide “fully independent governance” from day one and give Western stakeholders a “meaningful say” in the market’s implementation.

Antoine Lucas, SPP’s vice president of markets who is responsible for overseeing the Markets+ launch, said the grid operator has always relied on the “integrity” of its governance model.

“The model designed to govern Markets+ builds on that legacy of success,” he said in a statement. “It will ensure stakeholders from across the Western Interconnection … all have a voice in the design, development and administration of Markets+.”

Staff shared further details of the governance model during a webinar last Thursday. Developed last year with western stakeholders, it is essentially the same process found in SPP’s final service offering for Markets+. The model will be used to develop tariff language, protocols and governing documents in a package to be approved by stakeholders and filed with FERC. (See SPP Issues Final Markets+ Proposal.)

SPP Director Steve Wright likened it to the final service offering to Markets+’s constitution.

“We’ll be seeking to act consistently with that. It really does set the roles and responsibilities for all of the governance,” Wright said during the webinar.

Wright will chair the Interim Markets+ Independent Panel (IMIP), which will provide independent oversight and the top level of decision making during the market’s first developmental phase. He will be joined by fellow independent directors Elizabeth Moore and John Cupparo. Any actions taken by a simple majority on Markets+ tariff language will be presented to the full SPP board and filed with FERC.

Wright, a former Bonneville Power Administration administrator and CEO of Washington’s Chelan Public Utility, and Cupparo, a former senior executive at Berkshire Hathaway Energy and WECC board member, bring extensive experience in the Western Interconnection.

“I encourage folks to embrace this opportunity, and I really look forward to moving through this process as quickly as the stakeholders would like,” Cupparo said.

“Technically, if there are disputes, they could come to the IMIP for resolution,” Wright said. “We would certainly hope and encourage that there will be no disputes that we would need to resolve. We really would like to see folks in the West deciding how they want this thing to be put together in establishing their own leadership, and that we are merely providing support for that.

“I want to really emphasize this is your market design, not SPP’s market design. You have the ability to define how this will go,” he said. “Our role is to try to manage the process in a way to make sure that you get to the substantive outcomes that you want. We’ll certainly be encouraging collaborative discussions that lead to decisions driven by Western stakeholders and not driven by the IMIP.”

MIP, IMIP, MSC and MPEC

The Markets+ Independent Panel (MIP), a five-member panel independent from Markets+ participants and stakeholders, will eventually be established and replace the IMIP for the market’s second phase of development.

SPP staff had originally intended to stand up the MIP for the first phase, but stakeholders indicated they preferred a truly independent board, SPP General Counsel Paul Suskie said. More than two dozen participating organizations provided comments during the process.

The IMIP — and eventually the MIP — will oversee a structure that includes a Markets+ State Committee (MSC), a Markets+ Participants Executive Committee (MPEC), and multiple working groups and task forces, including the Market Design and Seams working groups and the Greenhouse Gas Task Force.

The MSC will be comprised of regulators from each state in the Markets+ footprint: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The group is designed to advise the MIP, MPEC and working groups on policy issues and initiative prioritization.

Eric Blank, chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, is leading the effort with the Western Interstate Energy Board to draft the MSC’s charter and formation efforts. Blank and SPP staff will update the board on Markets+ and the MSC during a Thursday webinar.

The MPEC offers a forum for Markets+ market participants and stakeholders to discuss issues related to the market’s administration and advancement, including establishing working groups, proposing tariff amendments and administrative rate changes. SPP staff is drafting charters that include each group’s purpose, scope and representation; they will be reviewed and voted on during the committee’s first meeting April 18-19 in Westminster, Colorado.

MPEC meetings are open to all stakeholders, but only entities that execute a market participant Phase One funding agreement or a stakeholder Phase One participation agreement are eligible to appoint a representative to the committee.

Markets+ has attracted 10 participants and several stakeholder groups, including the American Clean Power Association, The Energy Authority and Western Resource Advocates.

Western stakeholders and SPP staff spent more than nine months developing the governance structure. Staff said that having reached a critical mass threshold for Markets+ participation earlier this year, it has executed additional funding agreements. (See SPP Moving Quickly on Markets+’s Development.)

“From the overall board’s perspective, we are very encouraged by the commitment to the funding agreements and rapidity with which they were put in place,” Wright said. “It has certainly caused us to accelerate all of our activities, including pushing forward the establishment of this governance structure and the establishment of the IMIP.”