SPP has opened an office in Denver, giving it a physical presence in the Western Interconnection as it seeks to open two different markets in the West.

With 16 binding participants and 58 GW worth of load committed, the Western Power Pool’s Western Resource Adequacy Program aims to build on the momentum in 2026 and prepare for more members.

SPP Markets+ stakeholders unanimously approved the first version of the day-ahead market's protocols, providing a framework for market design, operations and settlements as its future participants build the systems and processes.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and panelists discussed efforts to meet energy demand at a Western Governors’ Association workshop in Phoenix, with some noting opportunities and challenges navigating state-level permitting and regulation.

CAISO and SPP have made “significant progress” on adapting existing tools to tackle seams between the two entities’ respective day-ahead markets, according to a CAISO representative.

As the Bonneville Power Administration prepares to join Markets+, the agency hopes to complete the initial program governance setup and define its commercial model for market participation in early 2026.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative could lead the charge on developing an alternative to the Western Resource Adequacy Program that would integrate with CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market, according to co-Chair Pam Sporborg.

A new FERC report adds to the growing body of work showing the complexity of confronting the seams issues likely to arise between the West’s two day-ahead markets when compared with challenges at the borders between RTOs and ISOs in the Eastern U.S.

SPP says the development of its Markets+ day-ahead market in the West is proceeding on time and under budget, with the hard part yet to come.

The Western Resource Adequacy Program Day-Ahead Market Task Force held its first meeting after the program’s binding decision deadline, with members exploring how the new participant footprint will impact transmission connectivity and other issues.