The Southwest Power Pool, of which Oklahoma is a member, welcomed its first international member this week.
The group, based in Arkansas announced the membership of Saskatchewan Power Corporation effective Oct. 1.
“Greater integration with the SPP will help to ensure reliable, clean energy is available to Saskatchewan to support our own generating facilities,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO. “We look forward to a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with SPP in the years to come.”
On Aug. 10, 2022, SaskPower announced it signed a 20-year interconnection agreement with SPP to expand transmission capacity between Saskatchewan and the United States. The announcement requires construction of a new line, which will allow for 650 megawatts of imports and exports beginning in 2027.
“SPP is very pleased to welcome SaskPower into our organization,” said Barbara Sugg, SPP President and CEO. “The continued success of our organization and the integrity of the bulk power system both rely on strong interregional ties. I look forward to our organizations working more closely together to find solutions that benefit everyone living in the regions we serve.”
SPP and SaskPower have operated as adjacent entities since October 2015 when SPP’s service territory expanded to the North Dakota-Saskatchewan border when a group of utilities known as the Integrated System became members of SPP and placed their facilities under the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff. SPP and SaskPower have a Joint Operating Agreement that outlines how the organizations coordinate reliability and transmission functions.
