FERC approves SPP's 'Markets Plus' for the West, with conditions and separate concurrences

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted in January 2025 to accept, subject to conditions, Southwest Power Pool’s Markets Plus proposal to establish day‑ahead and real‑time energy markets across parts of the Western interconnection.

Chairman Phillips, opening the discussion, said the commission believes market formation can deliver economic and reliability gains, noting that SPP’s Western Energy Imbalance Service produced about $61 million in net benefits in just over three years and that the California Independent System Operator’s Energy Imbalance Market has yielded roughly $6.25 billion in benefits in a little over a decade. “Time and time again, we’ve observed that through market formation, customers can achieve economic benefits,” he said.

Commissioners Christie and Rosner filed a joint separate concurrence focused on governance and state involvement. Christie said it is “time to look at creating a state organization for SPP … comparable to the state organizations that we have in PJM,” arguing states need dedicated resources to engage effectively in expanded regional markets.

Commissioner Chang said she is a “strong proponent of market development in the West” but is filing a separate concurrence because the record leaves unresolved market‑design details. “The record before us regarding SPP’s filing leaves some uncertainties, and our order therefore defers the decision about some key market design details to future proceedings and process,” she said, adding that she encourages continued stakeholder engagement as the market develops.

The order accepted SPP’s Markets Plus filing subject to conditions and to further proceedings on design elements the commission determined required additional record development. The vote was recorded as affirmative by the commissioners in attendance.

Why it matters: Markets Plus would extend day‑ahead and real‑time market mechanisms farther into the Western interconnection, a step the commission said can improve efficient dispatch of generation and transmission and provide reliability benefits during system stress. Commissioners who filed separate or joint concurrences emphasized the need to ensure states have the staffing and organizational capacity to participate meaningfully in stakeholder processes as the footprint of organized markets expands.

Next steps: The commission’s order will issue in the docket and the commission signaled that some market‑design questions will be resolved in follow‑on proceedings and processes, with continued stakeholder engagement encouraged.

Sources: Remarks and roll‑call taken at FERC’s January 2025 open meeting.