Power board backs updated UAMPS pooling agreement to meet EDAM rules

The Hurricane City Power Board voted to recommend that the City Council approve an amended and restated UAMPS pooling agreement designed to bring members into the Western Energy Coordinating market known as EDAM. The board’s action came after a detailed presentation on how EDAM forces a shift from primarily bilateral trades to centralized market transactions and requires new scheduling and forecasting obligations.

Presenter (S4) said the current pool agreement “was written in 1980 and nothing has changed since,” and explained that the amended agreement would take effect May 1, 2026, introduce an annual purchase plan, require load/resource forecasts and adopt a two-day scheduling requirement under EDAM rules. He told the board that members will need to procure roughly 120% of forecasted load in advance to avoid penalties and that UAMPS would be authorized to make market purchases to meet participants’ resource-efficiency obligations.

The new contract language also establishes a Project Management Committee (PMC) and an advisory committee to handle forecasting, billing and settlement allocations, S4 said, and it formalizes auditing and internal controls so settlement allocations and market operations can be reviewed annually. S4 said the contract includes standard commercial provisions — payment obligations, indemnification and force majeure — and noted that termination requires five years’ notice unless a shorter period is approved by the PMC.

Board members pressed staff on how the locked-in purchases would appear on participant bills and how grandfathered transmission fee status for Hurricane’s generation would be preserved. Staff (S2, S4) replied that the firm purchases will appear on the regular UAMPS bill as they do now and that transmission-fee exemptions for certain members would remain in place if those members keep their generation outside the EDAM model.

Committee member (S6) moved and S7 seconded a recommendation that the council approve the amended and restated pooling agreement; the motion passed on a voice vote. Staff said they will deliver approved documents to UAMPS prior to May 1 so the pool can operate in the EDAM environment and will brief the City Council at the next meeting.

Next steps: staff will prepare the council packet and a condensed presentation for the City Council; if approved by council, the agreement would fully replace the prior pooling agreement on May 1, 2026.