Balancing Authority of Northern California signs agreement to join the Extended Day-Ahead Market
FOLSOM, Calif. – The Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC) has signed an agreement to join the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), making it the third entity to formally commit to the regional day-ahead market offered by the California Independent System Operator (ISO).
“BANC is pleased to execute the EDAM implementation agreement with the ISO,” said Jim Shetler, BANC General Manager. “The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) has brought BANC and its member’s reliability, economic, and environmental benefits. EDAM participation is viewed as the next logical step to expand on those benefits. We look forward to working with the ISO to achieve a spring 2027 go-live date.”
With the signed agreement, BANC joins PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric as participants in the EDAM. BANC, a balancing authority consisting of six utilities, has been participating in the ISO’s WEIM since 2019.
“We are excited to welcome BANC as the first public power balancing authority to formally commit to join EDAM,” said Elliot Mainzer, California ISO’s President and CEO. “They have been a valued partner whose voice has been instrumental to the design of EDAM, and we look forward to having them join the market to deliver more benefits to their customers.”
The EDAM, scheduled to launch in 2026, builds on the proven track record of the WEIM. More than $6.25 billion in cost-saving efficiencies have been delivered to the WEIM’s 22 participants across 11 western states. The WEIM has also avoided more than 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since its launch in 2014. The WEIM continues to grow with two additional participants expected to onboard in 2026.
The EDAM has been designed to unlock those benefits for WEIM participants in the day-ahead timeframe, where the bulk of energy transactions occur, and the reliability, economic and environmental benefits will be even greater.
Along with the three entities executing signed implementation agreements, another three entities have informed the ISO of their interest in joining the EDAM: Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, BHE Montana, and PNM. Two additional entities, Idaho Power and NV Energy, have indicated that they are leaning toward EDAM as their preferred day-ahead market. Arizona G&T Cooperatives, utilities representing 70% of WAPA Desert Southwest’s load, also recently announced they are studying the benefits of joining EDAM.
In another development toward a regional market, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative Launch Committee approved its Step 2 Final Proposal last week, promising a revised independent governance structure for an integrated power market across the West.
The adopted Step 2 proposal calls for the formation of a new, independent Regional Organization that would assume sole authority for the market rules for WEIM and EDAM. Legislation would be necessary in California to enable the ISO markets to be governed by this new entity.
The Pathways Step 1 Proposal - approved jointly by the ISO Board of Governors and the Western Energy Markets (WEM) Governing Body in August – includes a trigger for implementation. To begin governance restructuring to elevate the WEM Governing Body as primary authority over the market, commitments for non-ISO load in the EDAM must reach 70 percent of ISO load, and represent geographic diversity of western states.
BANC’s participation means the EDAM has achieved commitment of 53 percent of the non-ISO load compared to ISO load, and sets in place another building block of the west-wide interconnected day-ahead electricity market.
BANC’s implementation agreement is expected to be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission next month.
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California ISO | 250 Outcropping Way | Folsom, CA 95630 | www.caiso.com
The California Independent System Operator (ISO) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated, with its partners, to continuous improvement and secure operation of a reliable grid operated for the benefit of consumers. It provides comprehensive grid planning, open and nondiscriminatory access to one of the largest networks of high-voltage transmission power lines in the world, and operates a $9 billion competitive electricity market. Recognizing the importance of the global climate challenge, the ISO is at the forefront of integrating renewable power and advanced technologies that will help provide a sustainable energy future efficiently and cleanly.
The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) is a real-time wholesale energy trading market that enables participants anywhere in the West to buy and sell energy when needed. The Western Energy Markets Governing Body is the governing authority designed by regional stakeholders and has shared authority with the ISO Board of Governors to resolve rules specific to participation in the WEIM.