PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Power Pool today announced that Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) has joined the Western Resource Adequacy Program, or WRAP.
PNM’s participation expands the program’s overall footprint and region-wide collaboration and bolsters the desert southwest membership.
“One of the things that makes the WRAP so beneficial is the ability to share in the diversity of the entire Western region,” said Sarah Edmonds, WPP President and CEO. “Bringing in PNM adds to that diversity, in terms of geography, resource mix and seasonal loads.”
WRAP this week also received formal participation agreements from two other entities that had previously stated their intent to join the program. With Seattle City Light and Snohomish County Public Utility District officially in the fold, along with PNM, that makes a total of 22 entities committed to the WRAP. Of those, PNM is the only one that was not part of the program’s earlier phases.
PNM is expected to participate in WRAP’s forward showing later this year ahead of the Summer 2024 operational program. The forward showing component of the WRAP is where participants demonstrate they have secured their share of the region’s energy needs. The operational component, in the winter and summer seasons, is when utilities with a deficit can tap into the pool of shared resources if needed.
Ultimately the WRAP will help maintain reliable service using fewer overall resources, ensure adequate resources during extreme weather events, and help enable the transition to clean energy.
“We’ve addressed power reliability head-on by tackling the widespread resource adequacy problems felt across the western United States,” said Pat Vincent-Collawn, CEO of PNM. “We continue to ensure our customer needs are met through innovative solutions to our power resources, participation in energy markets and strengthening our resource adequacy framework. We see WRAP as another tool to continue to enhance PNM’s system reliability.”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the tariff for the WRAP in February. Many participants committed to the program in advance late last year, and others have now signed on under the approved tariff.
“We’re thrilled to have everyone fully on board, both long-time supporters we know have been working through the process, as well as new participants,” said Rebecca Sexton, Western Power Pool Director of Reliability Programs. “This has us positioned well to test our operational program this summer.”
The current list of participants is:
- Arizona Public Service
- Avista
- Bonneville Power Administration
- Calpine
- Chelan County PUD
- Clatskanie PUD
- Eugene Water & Electric Board
- Grant PUD
- Idaho Power
- Northwestern Energy
- NVEnergy
- PacifiCorp
- Portland General Electric
- Powerex
- Puget Sound Energy
- Public Service Company of New Mexico
- Salt River Project
- Seattle City Light
- Shell Energy
- Snohomish County Public Utility District
- Tacoma Power
- The Energy Authority
About the WRAP: WPP is launching the WRAP, which is the first region-wide reliability planning and compliance program in the history of the West. With coordination and visibility across participants, the WRAP provides a more accurate, regional picture of resource needs and supply. It delivers a region-wide approach for assessing and addressing resource adequacy, taking advantage of operating efficiencies, diversity, and sharing of pooled resources. Utilities from the northwest, parts of the desert southwest, Canada and northern California are part of the WRAP’s overall footprint.
Media contact: For more information, contact Kevin Langbaum at kevin@kblcommunications.com.