Convening a diverse group of energy stakeholders from around the West, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) formally kicked-off its Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) initiative on Nov. 12, 2021, with a call-in workshop.
The day-ahead market initiative sought to build on the success of the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), launched by the ISO in 2014. Since its inception, the EIM has resulted in more than US $1.7 billion in energy savings while also enhancing reliability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Extending the regional market into the day-ahead time frame — where the overwhelming majority of energy transactions occur — would bring greater economic and environmental benefits to electricity consumers and make it easier for energy providers across the Western United States to work together to share diverse resources for enhanced reliability.
“There is real momentum toward further regional coordination in the West,” said Elliot Mainzer, the ISO’s president and CEO. “By building on the foundation of the EIM and harnessing the knowledge and experience of stakeholders from across the region, our goal is to position EDAM as the next major step in West-wide market evolution.”
Formal kick-off of the EDAM initiative took place Friday with a stakeholder call-in workshop from 9 a.m. and lasted till 4 p.m.
Over the summer, the ISO also facilitated dialogue among a group of Western EIM entities and participating transmission owners to craft a set of EDAM Common Design Principles & Concepts, identifying areas of common agreement for the extended day-ahead market.
Friday’s workshop was to seek further input on the common design principles, lay out the initiative scope and timeline, and begin forming stakeholder working groups for detailed market and policy design.
The major market design elements are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2022, with implementation and testing following in 2023. Onboarding of the initial EDAM participants would begin in early 2024.
