Data centers bring new regional planning challenges for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s upcoming power plan, the organization said during a recent meeting.

Seattle City Light presented its proposal for the Bonneville Power Administration’s overhaul of the transmission planning process, saying the agency should offer interim conditional firm service to most developers in the 61-GW transmission service queue.

The Bonneville Power Administration is starting a new pilot program to decrease balancing reserve capacity requirements by connecting new generation facilities to the grid.

Some of the Bonneville Power Administration’s proposals aimed at resuming transmission planning processes risk pushing study timelines to the point where the agency’s customers could run afoul of clean energy targets in Washington and Oregon, stakeholders say.

The Bonneville Power Administration outlined suggested modifications to its commercial business model as the agency explores updating transmission processes.

The Bonneville Power Administration has executed new long-term wholesale electric power contracts with more than 130 public utility customers under the agency’s Provider of Choice initiative, according to an announcement.

Idaho Power can continue to sell power at market-based rates after it acquired more than 200 MW in resources 2023 and 2024, FERC ruled.

Citing an energy “emergency” in the Northwest this winter, DOE ordered TransAlta to continue operating Washington’s last coal-fired generating plant for three months beyond its scheduled retirement at the end of this year.

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.