California ISO announces agreement with Black Hills Corp. subsidiaries for future participation in Western Energy Imbalance Market
FOLSOM, Calif. – California ISO today announced it has signed an implementation agreement with the South Dakota and Wyoming electric utility subsidiaries of Black Hills Corp. for future participation in the ISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM).
The subsidiaries, Black Hills Power Inc. and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company, both do business as Black Hills Energy. They currently receive real-time energy market services through the Southwest Power Pool’s Western Energy Imbalance Service market. The implementation agreement initiates the process for these subsidiaries to integrate into the WEIM in 2026.
The WEIM is a real-time electricity market that enables participating entities to buy and sell power close to the time electricity is generated and consumed. Using state-of-the-art technology, the market finds and delivers lowest-cost resources to meet immediate power needs and manages congestion on transmission lines to maintain grid reliability. Since the market’s launch in 2014, it has generated $5.85 billion in cumulative financial benefits for participants.
“We are very pleased to begin this process with Black Hills Energy to deliver future economic and reliability benefits to its customers,” said Elliot Mainzer, California ISO’s president and CEO. “Upon Black Hills Energy’s participation, benefits from the real-time market would reach consumers across 12 states – adding South Dakota to the market footprint – in addition to the customers that Black Hills Energy serves in Wyoming and Montana.”
Black Hills Corp. is a customer-focused, growth-oriented utility company based in Rapid City, SD. The company serves 1.3 million natural gas and electricity customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. More information on the company is available at www.blackhillsenergy.com.
For more information on the WEIM, visit the WesternEIM.com website.
# # #
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.