​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 4, 2019

Contacts:

Christopher Capra, BANC, Christopher.capra@smud.org

Lisa Meiman, WAPA, MediaRelations@WAPA.gov

The Balancing Authority of Northern California and Western Area Power Administration Sierra Nevada region jointly announce their intent for BANC to sign an agreement to participate in the California Independent System Operator Western Energy Imbalance Market beginning in April 2021.

The agreement represents BANC Western EIM Phase 2, which includes Modesto Irrigation District and WAPA SN and—once they receive final governing body approval—City of Redding and City of Roseville, and follows the BANC/SMUD Western EIM Phase 1 that commenced last spring.

BANC is a joint powers authority whose members, in addition to the utilities aforementioned, include SMUD, the City of Shasta Lake and Trinity Public Utilities District. The BANC Commission voted August 21 to proceed with Phase 2 and execute a Western EIM Implementation agreement with the ISO. SMUD, the nation’s sixth largest municipal utility, became the first BANC member to join the WEIM April 3, 2019. 

“BANC is excited to expand its participation in Phase 2 after becoming the first publicly owned agency to become an EIM Entity in the Western EIM”, said BANC General Manager Jim Shetler. “The success of Phase 1 BANC/SMUD and the benefits we’ve realized encouraged more of our public power members to participate. We expect the transition will be as smooth for Phase 2 as it was for Phase 1.”

This decision affects only WAPA’s SN region whose territory includes northern California and Nevada. Other WAPA regions continue to evaluate energy imbalance options in the west with their customers and other stakeholders to identify the best fit based on regional circumstances. WAPA is a power marketing administration within the Department of Energy responsible for selling and delivering federal hydropower across high-voltage transmission lines to customers in 15 Midwest and Western states. It is organized in five regions and a management center. 

“Joining the Western EIM will help SN ensure the reliable delivery of our hydropower while adjusting to a changing energy mix. Given our footprint within the BANC balancing authority area, the Western EIM is the best fit for SN,” said WAPA Senior Vice President and SN Regional Manager Sonja Anderson. “We greatly appreciate our customers’ and others’ engagement and input as we explored this opportunity that we feel will support our mission and benefit our customers.”

The Western EIM enables participating utilities to balance supply and demand within their respective service areas in real-time by scheduling power deliveries every 15 minutes with five-minute power plant dispatching. Utilities across a larger geographic area can exchange resources more effectively while significantly lowering the cost of delivering power to consumers.

Visit the Western EIM’s website for more information. 

About BANC

BANC is the third largest balancing authority in California and the 16th largest within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. BANC is a joint powers agency whose members include the Modesto Irrigation District, Redding Electric Utility, Roseville Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the City of Shasta Lake, and the Trinity Public Utilities District. BANC began operations in May 2011. BANC’s footprint currently extends from the Oregon border to Modesto and from Sacramento to the Sierra and includes the Western Area Power Administration’s transmission grid and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations’ generation resources in California. BANC includes the California-Oregon Transmission Project (COTP), as well as the systems of its members. For more information, visit thebanc.org .

About WAPA

Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 25,000 gigawatt-hours of clean, renewable power from 57 federal hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers and International Boundary and Water Commission in 15 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy. Follow us on Twitter: @WesternAreaPowr or visit the website at wapa.gov​.   

Last modified on September 12th, 2023