New Report Outlines a Pathway to a Unified Western Energy Market

As electricity demand rises across the West and grid reliability and affordability concerns persist, a new report from Advanced Energy United shows that the Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE) offers a practical, uniquely Western-built pathway to a stronger regional grid.

The report, A Pathway to a West-wide Energy Market: Affordability, Reliability, and Choice, describes how a unified energy market platform can lower costs, improve reliability, and preserve state authority, while also warning that a bifurcated market landscape risks locking Westerners into higher costs, reduced energy reliability, and creating long-term inefficiencies.

The study comes on the heels of recent California legislation that enables utilities in that state to join the ROWE, a Western energy market platform expected to begin offering same-day and extended day-ahead market services by January 2028.

“This is a once-in-a-generation moment for the West,” said Leah Rubin Shen, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United. “With electricity costs and demand increasing across the region, the need for a unified energy market is critical. Greater coordination will strengthen our grid, improve affordability, and prepare us for a rapidly changing energy landscape.”

Unlike other regional transmission organizations and independent system operators in the United States, the ROWE would offer incremental, voluntary participation in shared market services, allowing states to opt into only the services they need. The unique governance structure also preserves each state’s authority to maintain its individual energy goals and policies. The ROWE also supports public participation, consumer advocacy, and individual state representatives’ participation in decision-making.

“The ROWE reflects the best of the Western spirit — independent, pragmatic, and willing to work together when it matters most,” said Brian Turner, Senior Policy Director at Advanced Energy United. “Positioned to become the broadest and most diverse regional energy platform in the country, the ROWE is a market platform built by the West for the West, designed to move power where it’s needed, lower costs, and build the resilient grid our communities deserve.”

A previous analysis from Advanced Energy United found that a Western market with full participation would yield significant economic activity, generating billions in gross regional product and creating upwards of 650,000 jobs. State legislatures in Nevada and Colorado have already required their utilities to join a regional market by 2030.

A full copy of the report can be found at www.ByTheWest.org.