Southwest Power Pool RTO Membership Initiative

Since 2020, WAPA’s Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) and Rocky Mountain (RM) regions have been exploring full membership in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and the Upper Great Plains (UGP) region has been exploring expansion of its participation in the Western Interconnection. Other participants in the initiative include Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Colorado Springs Utilities, Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, Platte River Power Authority and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

At midnight Central Daylight Time on April 1, 2026, the SPP RTO expansion went live in the Western Interconnection. CRSP, RM, and UGP are now full members in the RTO with its Integrated Marketplace, transmission planning, transmission service provider, reliability coordination and balancing authority functions for the entire SPP RTO footprint, which now includes portions of both the Eastern and Western Interconnections.

Participating in this initiative to expand the SPP RTO into the West is consistent with WAPA’s commitment to develop alternative ways of doing business to support the ongoing reliability and economic performance of WAPA resources in a dynamic energy industry. We are committed to keeping pace with changes in the industry to ensure that we, along with our customers, are well-positioned for the continued success of our mission to safely provide reliable, cost-based hydropower and transmission to our customers and the communities they serve.

Background

On September 8, 2023, WAPA’s Administrator and CEO Tracey A. LeBeau ​issued a Decision Letter (PDF)​ authorizing CRSP, RM and UGP to pursue final negotiations with SPP regarding RTO membership/expanded participation.

The decision to proceed to final negotiations was based on the recommendation report that informed the Federal Register notice (FRN) public process; the unique marketing and transmission footprints of CRSP, RM and UGP; and consideration of comments received during FRN and Tribal comment processes.

CRSP, RM and UGP each executed Commitment Agreements on October 10, 2023. The Commitment Agreements bound CRSP, RM and UGP to pay their respective shares of SPP’s project implementation costs if the RTO expansion did not go live. However, since the RTO expansion did go live, CRSP, RM and UGP will not pay for any project implementation costs under the Commitment Agreements, as those costs will be included in SPP’s administrative fees and allocated across the entire SPP RTO footprint.

On June 4, 2024, SPP filed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff), Bylaws and Membership Agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to enable expansion of the existing SPP RTO into the Western Interconnection. FERC issued its final approval of the SPP revisions on July 11, 2025. All terms and conditions negotiated by WAPA and required for us to proceed with membership/expanded participation were included in that approval.  The Tariff revisions are available on the FERC website under Docket No. ER24-2184 [ferc.gov], and the modifications to the SPP Bylaws and Membership Agreement are available under Docket No. ER24-2185 [ferc.gov].

In parallel with the tariff activities, CRSP and its Southern Division customers implemented the Glen Canyon Allocator. With this mechanism, CRSP retains a portion of its transmission system from Glen Canyon to Pinnacle Peak, outside the SPP RTO, to deliver a specific amount of Glen Canyon hydropower associated with certain CRSP Southern Division customers.

Federal Register Notice

To inform this decision, on April 28, 2023, WAPA published an FRN on its recommendation to pursue final negotiations regarding SPP RTO membership. Specifically, WAPA recommended CRSP and RM pursue final negotiations regarding membership in the SPP RTO, and UGP expand its participation in the Western Interconnection. Through the FRN public process, WAPA sought written public comments from its customers, Tribes and stakeholders on the substance of the recommendation.

Tribal Consultation

In May 2023, WAPA’s Administrator and CEO met with Tribal leaders to initiate a Tribal consultation and solicit comments on the SPP RTO initiative. WAPA received three Tribal comment letters as part of the Tribal comment process and three as part of the FRN comment process (six letters total). The comments ranged from being supportive to expressing concerns. WAPA remains committed to continuing to fulfill hydropower allocations and contractual obligations to all WAPA customers, including Tribes, regardless of RTO participation.

Comments and Responses

Under the FRN, WAPA accepted comments during an initial comment period from April 28 to June 12, 2023, and a reopened comment period from June 13 to July 11, 2023. The purpose of the reopened comment period was to solicit additional comments related to CRSP’s potential membership in the SPP RTO.

Under the Tribal consultation, WAPA accepted comments during an initial comment period from May 12 to June 12 and a reopened comment period from June 13 to July 11, 2023.

Both the FRN and Tribal comments are included in the following Response Report.

Please see:

As a normal part of an FRN process, WAPA participated in non-public discussions with other entities regarding the RTO initiative during the public comment period. A summary of those discussions is po​sted (PDF) [oasis.oati.com]. Additionally, WAPA personnel participated in industry activities and discussions regarding markets.

Documents

News

Meeting Materials

Additional Resources

Contacts

  • Paul Schwabe, Senior Vice President and Transmission Infrastructure Program Manager
  • Rebecca Johnson, Transmission and Power Markets Advisor, Enterprise Portfolio Management

Last modified on April 2nd, 2026