BPA commits to WRAP binding operations

Since the inception of the Western Resource Adequacy Program in 2019, the Bonneville Power Administration has remained committed to the program and its goals of strengthening energy reliability in the West. As of Nov. 1, BPA and 15 other participants are moving forward with binding operations beginning in the winter 2027/2028 season. The end of October signified the last opportunity for participants to exit WRAP with a two-year notice prior to the first binding operations season.

“As a voluntary program, moving to binding operations is highly important,” said Matt Hayes, BPA’s WRAP Program manager. “WRAP’s full realization allows its participants to have access to all the help and support that the program provides. Once binding operations begin, it also means the program’s participants are held accountable, with true consequences for failing to meet program expectations and requirements.”

Also beginning Nov. 1, BPA entered its fourth sharing season with the program, allowing the agency and other participants to continue refining and improving the program before the first binding operational season takes effect. Each summer and winter, WRAP participants share both real-time and multiday forward-looking energy resource and load data. This data-sharing enables the program to establish positive or negative sharing positions to determine which participants are resource adequate versus resource deficient in the short term.

BPA’s commitment to participating in WRAP’s binding operations in winter 2027/2028 is a significant step for the agency on its path to collaboratively address grid reliability challenges, but the move comes as no surprise. In a joint statement dated Sept. 29, BPA and 10 other participants affirmed their desire to move forward with program participation. The commitment of the statement’s 11 signatories secured a critical mass of participants for WRAP to move forward with its first binding season in less than two years.

“Our ongoing participation reflects our belief that the best way to address the West’s most pressing energy challenges is to work together. WRAP provides a proven, collaborative path forward – and we are proud to remain part of it,” the statement concluded.

For updates on BPA's involvement with WRAP, visit the agency's Western Resource Adequacy Program page.