SPP Completes Historic Western Expansion, Becoming a 17‑State RTO
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has successfully completed a historic expansion of its service territory into the Western Interconnection, officially becoming a 17‑state regional transmission organization on April 1. This milestone makes SPP the first RTO in the nation to operate across two major interconnections, significantly broadening the scope and value of its regional energy services.
Following months of testing, coordination, and preparation, nine load‑serving utilities led the expansion, bringing new resources and customers from Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming into SPP’s wholesale markets and planning processes. Participating utilities will benefit from enhanced reliability, improved access to diverse generation resources, transparent grid governance, and cost efficiencies enabled through regional coordination.
By operating as a more geographically and operationally diverse system, SPP is strengthening real‑time grid awareness, improving resilience during extreme weather and other system challenges, and supporting long‑term economic growth across the expanded region. The western expansion marks a major step forward in SPP’s mission to deliver reliable, affordable power to communities across the central and western United States.
Read the full press release HERE.
