posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 11:23 AM
by
Tracy Davis
Grid West Parties, BPA Go Separate Ways
The potential for an independent transmission operator in the Pacific Northwest grew murkier in January, as the two principal factions headed in opposite directions. On January 10, the remaining members of Grid West released a cost/benefit analysis examining the organization’s continued viability following the decision by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) not to participate. The report touted decreased cost estimates, and, perhaps stating the obvious, determined that BPA's decision not to join will both create operational complexities and at the same time simplify internal procedures. Hopes are that operations could begin in 2008.
In the meantime, several utilities that are not (or are no longer) members of Grid West announced formal plans to create an alternative to Grid West, which proposes a different path to integrated operation of the region's transmission system. BPA, Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, and the PUDs of Chelan and Grant Counties are in the process of asking other entities to become shareholders of the organization that would build upon last year's Transmission Integration Group (TIG) proposal. See Pacific Northwest Grid Restructuring Proposal Fails. A number of BPA's customers (primarily municipal utilities and public power agencies) that feared Grid West ceded too much control over the grid to an RTO-like organization developed TIG as the alternative to Grid West. The as-yet-unnamed group plans to meet January 27 in Portland to determine their next step and hammer out a structure for their organization. The group contends that its plan is intended to complement, but not compete with Grid West. They hope some type of “seams” agreements could eventually be coordinate the portions of the regional transmission grid controlled by the two groups.