The Southwest Power Pool took recent steps to prepare for its 2027 launch of its western market but naming a director of marketing for the project.
The 14-state grid created the new position and this week announced the naming of Tim Vigil as the director of the Market Monitoring Unit’s branch focusing on Markets+ which is the grid’s western day-ahead and real-time market.
“I’m so excited to welcome Tim to the MMU at this important stage in the establishment of Markets+,” said Carrie Bivens, SPP vice president of market monitoring. “His broad industry knowledge, strong market insight and long experience in the western interconnection will be invaluable to our monitoring preparation efforts for the new market and future oversight responsibilities.”
In his role as Director of Market Monitoring for Markets+, Vigil will lead the development of market monitoring reports and metrics for Markets+, manage processes for identifying and addressing market design flaws, monitor market operations functions and support a future surveillance team responsible for screening market participant behavior. The MMU follows a separate reporting structure than the regional transmission organization (RTO), ensuring it functions independently to avoid actual or apparent conflicts in its oversight role.
“I am extremely pleased to join the SPP Market Monitoring Unit team at a critical time for markets expansion in the West,” said Vigil, “I look forward to working with Markets+ participants and stakeholders to support the development and implementation of SPP’s latest premier western service.”
Vigil was instrumental in the formation and implementation of the SPP Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) market. He served as chair of the SPP’s stakeholder-led Western Markets Executive Committee (WMEC) from 2020-2021.
Vigil joins the SPP MMU from the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC), where he served as chief member relations and strategy officer. Before his role at PNGC, he served as director of development-origination at NextEra Energy, chief operating officer at Delta-Montrose Electric Association and in various roles at Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), focusing on the Colorado River Storage Project, Rocky Mountain and Loveland areas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from California State University Northridge.
The SPP MMU is tasked with monitoring and reporting possible abuses of market power, monitoring market participants’ compliance with market rules, identifying market design flaws and recommending changes in design to improve the operation of markets and services for the benefit of consumers. It is independent of the RTO and its contract services, including Markets+.
Source: press release