Powerex will fund and join Markets+
Superior diversity between the Northwest and Southwest regions, coupled with inclusive, independent governance provides an unmatched market solution for the West.
January 21, 2025
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Powerex Corp. is pleased to announce it will fund its share of the development and implementation of Markets+. The funding enables Powerex to re-affirm its commitment to join Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Markets+ day-ahead and real-time organized energy market recently approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Powerex joins Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power and UniSource Energy Services in announcing plans to fund and join Markets+, as well as Xcel Energy-Colorado who plans to fund and join Markets+ once they receive approval from their state regulators. These announcements provide growing confidence that the Markets+ footprint will have substantial resource and load diversity, enhancing the benefits for all participants. This expected diversity includes an extensive hydro fleet in the Northwest, growing solar supply in the Southwest as well as expanding wind resources in the Northwest, Southwest, and Rockies western subregions. The Markets+ footprint will also have both winter-peaking and summer-peaking utilities, further enhancing the opportunities for mutually beneficial trade.
Powerex evaluated its decision to fund and join Markets+ based on three equally important pillars: independent governance, an impartial market operator, and sound market design. These three pillars are critical to ensure equitable outcomes for all participants and ratepayers across the market’s footprint.
“Our experience as a stakeholder in the formation of Markets+ has been a very positive one. Powerex has greatly appreciated the collaboration of a diverse group of stakeholders who have invested countless hours over multiple years, with SPP providing facilitation and market expertise to aid in this effort. The end result is a fair, robust and durable initial market design built upon an inclusive and independent governance structure from the outset,” said Tom Bechard, President and CEO of Powerex.
Powerex commends the Markets+ stakeholder community for its thoughtful and fair market design decisions on resource adequacy, transmission availability and cost recovery, congestion rent distribution, price formation, greenhouse gas accounting and tracking, and more. Powerex looks forward to participating in Markets+ and intends to contribute its transmission rights for use in Markets+ to support inter-regional connectivity. Powerex is also actively pursuing investments in transmission expansion efforts which it intends to use to further support Markets+ connectivity.
Powerex thanks SPP for facilitating this monumental effort and guiding the stakeholder process with its technical expertise and commitment to transparency.
About Powerex
Powerex Corp. provides innovative electricity solutions across the West. Powerex’s business consists of trading wholesale power and natural gas, environmental products, ancillary energy services, and financial energy products. Powerex has over 230 customers and trading partners, including commercial and industrial companies, public power and investor-owned utilities. Powerex is consistently ranked by our customers as an industry-leading provider of wholesale electricity and energy-related environmental products.