Western Energy Imbalance Market

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) gave public notice that Portland General Electric Company (PGE) has become the fifth western utility to successfully begin full participation in the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) that is dedicated to western states. 

The Oregon-based utility and the California ISO had recently completed several weeks of extensive systems testing - the culmination of two years of preparatory work and coordination - and had certified that PGE is ready for financially binding participation in the only multistate real-time energy market in the West. 

The EIM currently entails service to more than 38 million consumers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The statement from the California ISO reported that PGE joins Arizona Public Service Company, Puget Sound Energy, NV Energy, and PacifiCorp as full participants in the western EIM. 

The announcement also noted that two other utilities - Idaho Power Company and Canada-based Powerex - are already scheduled to join the EIM in April of 2018, followed by three municipal utilities in 2019, and the Salt River Project in 2020.