PORTLAND, OR – The Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP), administered by the NWPP, is pleased to announce that it has entered the first stage of program implementation, Phase 3A.

This non-binding phase welcomes eight new participants to the WRAP. The participants in Phase 3A of the WRAP are: Arizona Public Service, Avangrid, Avista, Black Hills Energy, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bonneville Power Administration, Calpine, Chelan PUD, Clatskanie PUD, Douglas PUD, Eugene Water and Electric Board, Grant PUD, Idaho Power, NorthWestern Energy, NV Energy, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, Powerex, Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light, Snohomish PUD, Shell Energy, Salt River Project, Tacoma Power, Turlock Irrigation District, and The Energy Authority (representing seven Washington and Oregon public utilities). These twenty-six participants represent an estimated peak winter load of  65,122 MW and an estimated peak summer load of  66,768 MW across 10 states and one Canadian province.

This group is diving into the remaining program design questions, including a task force dedicated to a second transmission hub that would allow participants in the southwest region to more readily access program diversity, one considering specific contract terms that would be necessary to ensure an enhanced WSPP Schedule C agreement would count as qualified capacity, and others considering other outstanding issues.

“We are very excited about the interest and commitment to the WRAP we’ve seen from former NWPP members and new participant’s, alike. The level of excitement for the program’s forward program speaks to the determination and dedication of the participants,” said Frank Afranji, NWPP president and CEO.

Additionally, the NWPP and SPP partnership has officially kicked off. SPP has begun providing program operation services, including facilitating the collection of participants data to perform modeling for the upcoming seasons.

“As we reach this significant milestone in the WRAP’s implementation, SPP is grateful for the relationships we’ve built and the opportunity to work with such a collaborative and diverse group of entities,” said Barbara Sugg, president and CEO of Southwest Power Pool. “This resource adequacy program will play an important part in the reliability of the western grid, and it’s exciting to see new participants joining the effort.”

For more information, visit www.nwpp.org/wrap

Media Contact

NWPP:  wrap@nwpp.org or Rebecca Sexton at 253-279-3002