CUB And Allies Win More Equitable Structure for Newly Launched Western Resource Adequacy Program
Posted on December 16, 2021 by Mike Goetz
Tags, Energy
In a December 7 press release, the Northwest Power Pool announced the launch of the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP). This news comes after years of hard work and incorporating feedback from CUB and other parties. The program enables resource sharing and sets standards ensuring that utilities and other electric suppliers have enough energy supply at all times. The program is particularly needed to prevent rolling blackouts and other service disruptions.
CUB participated on the WRAP’s stakeholder advisory committee that helped shape the program. Thanks in part to CUB’s advocacy, alongside a coalition of other advocates, the structure of the WRAP is more equitable than when it was first proposed.
Key changes were made to the program’s governance structure. These include an increased role for state regulatory commissions and more balance in decision-making between energy producers, public interest organizations, and customer advocates. A regional program like this can only benefit customers if it minimizes costs for all and protects customer interests. The increased oversight from these governance changes should ensure that outcome.
The WRAP includes 26 participants across 10 U.S. states and one Canadian province. They include investor-owned utilities, consumer-owned utilities, energy service suppliers, and others. Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power are the three investor-owned participants serving electricity to residential customers in Oregon. CUB hopes that their enrollment will lead to cost savings for those customers.
One key to the program’s success is the geographic and resource diversity that the participants bring to the table. For example, the American West contains large stretches of land that are well suited for solar power, and others that are better locations for wind turbines. But wind tends to blow more at night, while solar power is generated during daylight hours. By pooling the various utilities’ resources, we can send energy from these variable resources to wherever it is needed in the moment, across the program’s footprint. This may allow utilities to avoid building out new resources, saving customers millions of dollars.
CUB is grateful for the hard work of the Northwest Power Pool and WRAP participants. Initial design conversations about WRAP governance took place largely between utilities with limited stakeholder input. But CUB and allies pushed back and won a larger role for state commissions and public interest groups. And so, we are particularly thankful for the voices of Renewable Northwest, Northwest Energy Coalition, Western Resource Advocates, Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition, and the Western Interstate Energy Board who advocated to make the process more fair and transparent.
We are also grateful for the state regulatory commissions throughout the West that brought their concerns to a series of workshops held by the Western Interstate Energy Board over the summer. Only two seats total were initially given to public interest organizations and customer advocates on the WRAP’s Program Review Committee. As a result of parties’ advocacy, those seats were doubled to four. This committee is a sector representative group charged with receiving, considering, and proposing design changes to the WRAP. Its role is important because it provides direct guidance to the RA Participant Committee. And that committee in turn advises the independent Board of Directors overseeing the WRAP.
In addition, a Committee of State Representatives was created, giving a meaningful voice to state commissions throughout the WRAP footprint. This increased oversight will balance utility interests with those of the customers they serve and the commissions that regulate them. This balance should result in a more equitable program that helps to achieve real savings for utility customers. Creating a program this complex and far-reaching was no small undertaking. CUB looks forward to seeing how the program fares now that it is operational.
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12/16/21 | 0 Comments | CUB And Allies Win More Equitable Structure for Newly Launched Western Resource Adequacy Program