New amendments to the proposed Pathways bill would include protections against possible attempts by President Donald Trump to influence California energy markets, such as pushing the state to buy coal-fired generation.

TURN is finding some success in getting California state lawmakers to address the group’s concerns about what the Trump administration might do if the state moves forward with plans to hand over control of CAISO’s energy markets to an independent regional organization.

A California senate committee voted unanimously in favor of the Pathways bill, bringing the Golden State closer to allowing CAISO to cede oversight of its energy markets to an independent RO.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee said it hopes to seat a permanent board by either next year or 2027 for the regional organization that will govern energy markets in the West.

California senators heard arguments for and against the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, with some lawmakers voicing concerns about guardrails against market manipulation and what the effort means for the state's autonomy to set its own policies.

The federal government has put on hold nearly $1 million in funding toward the development of a new independent Western RO to oversee CAISO’s WEIM and EDAM, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee said.

The language for the proposed bill to implement “Step 2” of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative stipulates the conditions under which CAISO and California utilities can participate in energy markets governed by an independent regional organization.

California state lawmakers introduced a much-anticipated bill to implement “Step 2” of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative, marking a significant step toward the creation of a new independent “regional organization” to oversee governance of CAISO’s markets.

The deadline to submit bills for California’s 2025 session is looming, and backers of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative expect legislation without unnecessary fluff that will change CAISO’s governance structure and allow a new regional organization to oversee Western energy markets.