rto.html
Regional Transmission Proposals
Grid West_____________
The NW Energy Coalition's Steve Weiss was among a handful of negotiators who brokered a compromise leading to the latest proposal for a regional transmission operator — Grid West . Grid West would provide many of the reforms to the transmission grid sought in older RTO proposals financial transparency, improved reliability, more efficient siting of generation, and accommodation for renewable energy sources without forcing an abrupt abrogation of existing transmission rights.
A go-slow RTO: Breakthrough promises new era in Northwest transmission January 2004 Report
Comments of the NW Energy Coalition and Renewable Northwest Project on proposed Grid West bylaws September 3, 2004
NW Energy Coalition Brief Analysis of the Henwood Energy Services Study of Grid West Proposal
November 10, 2004
Papers
- NWEC's Response to FERC on Utilities' Stage 2 RTO-West Filing May 29, 2002
- Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) Overview, May 2000
- Motion to Intervene and Protest of Public Interest Organizations, Nov. 2000
- Update and unresolved issues, Oct. 2000
- Press release from BPA Oct. 2000
NW Energy Coalition Report articles
- New FERC proposal panned in Northwest October 2002
- A Go-Slow Alternative to RTO West July 2002
- RTO West Faces Fierce Opposition June 2002
- FERC in for Fight Over RTO West May 2002
- Gulf separates stakeholders in RTO West March 2002
- A hard road ahead for RTO West, Dec. 2000
As expected, the filing for a proposed Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) by the Northwest's transmission-owning utilities was quickly followed by comments and "protests" from virtually every other electricity-related entity in the region. The intensity of objections to the filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) likely means the region is still a long way from forming a single, seamless, highway for transmitting power. . . .
- Northwest RTO proposal heads to FERC, Oct. 2000
The summer's collaborative discussions to design a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) for the Northwest concluded early last month. The group's conclusions are by and large expected to be carried over into a filing the region's transmission-owning utilities must make with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this month. . . .
- Reliability solutions debated in RTO talks, August 2000
Discussion and debate over what a Northwest regional transmission organization (RTO) might look like kicked into high gear in July with the October 15 deadline for filing a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) looming ever closer. Significant progress was made on how to give power providers a way to bid for the privilege of using constrained transmission wires. Two issues, however, still have not been settled as of mid-August: how to maintain and improve the reliability of the system, and who would govern the new organization.
Voluntary efforts to form a regional transmis-sion organization (RTO), foundered two years ago. Momentum has grown since then, however, as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a January 6 Order "2000" which requires all investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in the country to file a proposed RTO by October 15, 2000. RTO operation is set to begin by December 2001.