The Bonneville Power Administration’s draft decision “solidifying” its day-ahead market choice in favor of SPP’s Markets+ has reignited a yearslong debate over the agency’s direction.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee asked CAISO to initiate a stakeholder process to create a funding mechanism for the newly incorporated organization that is slated to assume governance over the ISO’s energy markets.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee approved the bylaws and incorporation documents for the organization that will govern CAISO’s energy markets.

California lawmakers have passed a landmark bill that will allow CAISO to transition the governance of its markets to the independent “regional organization” envisioned by the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative.

The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative will run its stakeholder processes separately from CAISO’s until the effort's regional organization is formally launched in 2028, even in areas of overlapping interest.

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.

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 Pathways Step 2 proposal offers a blueprint for divvying up functions between CAISO and the RO that backers envision will provide an independent framework for governing the ISO’s Western markets.