BPA's biggest risks in joining SPP’s Markets+ come down to footprint size and the limited transmission connectivity between the Northwest and Southwest entities most inclined to join the market, agency executives said.

A new coalition of trade and environmental groups says California must be in an RTO, bolstering a renewed push for CAISO to become a multistate organization.

Increased discussion of a Western RTO is being driven by clean-energy mandates and state laws requiring transmission owners to join an organized market.