PORTLAND, OR – The Northwest Power Pool (NWPP) and participating member utilities in the resource adequacy program development effort have released a detailed design of a resource adequacy program for interested utilities in the West.

“We are very excited to share with the region the progress we’ve made over the last two years to stand up a resource adequacy program,” said Frank Afranji, NWPP President. “We believe the resource adequacy program will provide multiple benefits to the region as well as participants, including reliability, cost savings and improved visibility and coordination.”

Beginning in early 2019 and acting through the NWPP, a broad coalition of NWPP members initiated an effort to establish a regional resource adequacy (RA) program. The contemplated RA program seeks to enhance and increase reliability for the footprint while maintaining existing responsibilities for reliable operations and observing existing frameworks for planning, purchasing, and delivering energy.

The design report provides details on the elements of the program, including a forward showing program and an operational program as well as a governance framework contemplated for the program. In addition, the report provides details on how stakeholders impacted by the program can participate.

“Stakeholder engagement and feedback on the program design is crucial,” said Afranji. “We welcome and encourage stakeholders to provide us their input on the design document. We will consider these recommendations and continue to refine the program design as we move into the next phase of the program development.” Stakeholder comments should be sent to inquiries@nwpp.org and will be accepted through September 15, 2021.

The NWPP RA effort is now gearing up to launch the next phase of the program to implement a forward showing program that will provide informational, non-binding RA requirements for Winter of 2022. The NWPP welcomes all participants and will be accepting participation agreements for this first stage of the program beginning August 16th through September 30th, 2021.

A copy of the report can be found here: https://www.nwpp.org/resources/2021-nwpp-ra-program-detailed-design