Day-Ahead Market

BPA's history is one of using its infrastructure to link markets for power together, creating a stronger grid across the Pacific Northwest and the Western region in the name of the common good. BPA advanced this legacy by participating in a real-time electricity market that at long last brought power dispatch into the age of computing. This Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) unified most Western utilities into a common market and has resulted in significant production cost savings since its inception. The next evolution in the West is a Day-Ahead Market, which uses security-constrained unit commitment auctions to schedule the lowest-cost generation that meets demand within grid transmission limits.

BPA Administrator Travis Kavulla has committed to review the Day-Ahead Markets decision with fresh eyes, and his evaluation is based upon three key principles:

  1. The ability to trust in the durability of the rules governing the market
  2. The depth and liquidity of the market
  3. The impacts on reliability and economic efficiencies resulting from new seams between adjoining markets

Before the end of the year, BPA intends to issue a draft decision either to continue on that course, to pivot toward the California Independent System Operator Extended Day-Ahead Market, to remain in its status quo, or to adopt a different approach to markets that suits BPA and its customers.

Over the next several months, BPA is hosting a series of Day-Ahead Market Public Workshops to evaluate Western energy market options and inform its decision-making process.

Day-Ahead Market Participation Workshop

BPA will host a discussion of Day-Ahead Market issues.

Day-Ahead Market Policy

Workshops

Joint Utility Issue Alerts

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Additional Information