Southwest Power Pool welcomes first international member
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP) welcomed its newest member, Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower), effective Oct. 1, 2022. SaskPower is SPP’s first international member, and their membership represents both organizations’ continued efforts to increase reliability through interregional coordination.
“Greater integration with the SPP will help to ensure reliable, clean energy is available to Saskatchewan to support our own generating facilities,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO. “We look forward to a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with SPP in the years to come.”
On Aug. 10, 2022, SaskPower announced it signed a 20-year interconnection agreement with SPP to expand transmission capacity between Saskatchewan and the United States. The announcement requires construction of a new line, which will allow for 650 megawatts of imports and exports beginning in 2027.
“SPP is very pleased to welcome SaskPower into our organization,” said Barbara Sugg, SPP President and CEO. “The continued success of our organization and the integrity of the bulk power system both rely on strong interregional ties. I look forward to our organizations working more closely together to find solutions that benefit everyone living in the regions we serve.”
SPP and SaskPower have operated as adjacent entities since October 2015 when SPP’s service territory expanded to the North Dakota-Saskatchewan border when a group of utilities known as the Integrated System became members of SPP and placed their facilities under the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff. SPP and SaskPower have a Joint Operating Agreement that outlines how the organizations coordinate reliability and transmission functions.
SaskPower’s participation in the SPP Regional Transmission Organization represents a commitment by both organizations to continue collaboration to strengthen electric coordination, improve the integration of intermittent resources and create economic opportunities across their borders.
About SPP: Southwest Power Pool, Inc. is a regional transmission organization: a not-for-profit corporation mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale electricity prices on behalf of its members. SPP manages the electric grid across 17 central and western U.S. states and provides energy services on a contract basis to customers in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections. The company’s headquarters are in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at SPP.org.