Western Leaders and Business Back Advanced Energy United’s Report Charting Pathway to a Western Energy Market
New report highlights how a unified Western energy market can improve energy affordability, reliability, and choice, earning support from state officials and industry leaders across the region
State leaders from Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada; and industry leaders from Google, Leap, and La Plata Electric Association have signaled their support for a new report from Advanced Energy United showcasing how the newly-established Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE) provides a pathway to a unified Western market.
A Pathway to a West-wide Energy Market: Affordability, Reliability, and Choice, written by Advanced Energy United’s Brian Turner, Senior Policy Director, and Leah Rubin Shen, Managing Director, explores the benefits of a unified energy market platform and the threats of a fragmented market landscape in the West.
“The report makes it clear that the structure of the Regional Organization for Western Energy gives Western states a clear path to greater savings and reliability while also protecting our unique state interests,” said Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson. “Regional cooperation will allow us to unlock our diverse energy resources, lower electricity costs, and strengthen the grid to meet future energy needs.”
“Across the West, we are managing rising temperatures, growing demand, and increasing energy costs,” said New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Patrick O’Connell. “The West has abundant energy resources. Electricity has always worked best if we cooperate with our neighbors. A market framework is essential to use our resources efficiently. The report highlights how the Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE) can help us work together across state lines, strengthen reliability, and keep costs down.”
“Nevada’s location, transmission, and immense energy resources position us to play a key role in moving power efficiently and affordably across the West,” said Nevada State Assemblymember Howard Watts. “This report illustrates that the Regional Organization for Western Energy (ROWE) provides a powerful platform for us to realize our potential and provide real savings for electric customers, while respecting the distinct policies and circumstances of Nevada and each of its fellow western states.”
Industry leaders emphasized that the benefits of a unified regional market, made possible by the ROWE, can improve energy reliability, lower costs, and accelerate new energy development through transparent independent governance with broad stakeholder representation to meet the region’s diverse needs.
Former Colorado State Senator Chris Hansen, who, during his time in the legislature, sponsored SB21-072, requiring Colorado utilities to join a regional energy market, and now serves as CEO of La Plata Electric Association (LPEA), said, “Colorado has been a leader in pursuing expanded electricity markets since the passage of SB 72 in 2021. This report makes clear that the Pathways ROWE promises a truly Western model of governance that can help us achieve our goals of a more affordable, reliable power system for Colorado and the West and create more flexible market and transmission options for cooperatives like LPEA as we work to deliver long-term value to our members.”
Representatives from Google and Leap expressed support for the report as well.
“Today’s fragmented Western grid makes moving clean energy complicated, and the industry needs market rules that are consistent and predictable,” said Sydney Henry, Data Center Strategic Negotiator at Google. “Independent governance by the ROWE reduces costs for all ratepayers, regulatory friction, seams, and provides the stability needed for large-scale energy investments, giving business confidence and a clear pathway to succeed in the West.”
“For the first time ever in a U.S. regional market, the ROWE offers a distributed energy resources (DER) stakeholder sector,” said Collin Smith, Regulatory Affairs Manager at Leap. “This structure sets the market up to fully leverage demand response and other distributed resources to provide value to the grid across the region.”
A full copy of the report can be found at www.ByTheWest.org.