Wyoming’s Largest Utility Joins a New Western Day Ahead Market for Electricity
Key takeaways
- The new market, which went live Friday, gives Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, and other utilities and power producers across the West access to more buyers and sellers.
- The new system runs on the network of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the flow of electricity in the Golden State.
- PacifiCorp began trading in the market Thursday night after a period of simulations to fix bugs and assess how the expanded market’s prices, demand and supply all interacted.
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
May 1, 2026 Share This Article Republish. A substation at the coal-fired Naughton power plant in Kemmerer, Wyo. Credit: Natalie Behring/Getty Images Related Western Lawmakers Move To Weaken Clean Air Act and Shield Fossil Fuel Companies From Climate Lawsuits At Rallies in Utah and Wyoming, Pacifi Corp Customers Urge the Utility to Pursue Renewables New Pacifi Corp Forecast Sees More Fossil-Fueled Electricity. How Will That Affect Western Energy Jobs? Share This Article Republish Most Popular Nearly One-Fifth of Americans Are Consuming Water With High Levels of Nitrates The Next El Niño Could Lock Earth Into a Hotter Climate A Bill to Gut Endangered Species Protections Faced a Major Setback This Week Wyoming’s largest utility today began participating in a new “Extended Day Ahead Market” for electricity on the Western grid, a potentially landmark shift in the way energy is sold in the state that could lower rates as energy costs soar.
The new market, which went live Friday, gives Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, and other utilities and power producers across the West access to more buyers and sellers. It also allows them to meet forecasted demand with electricity produced elsewhere in the region.
The new system runs on the network of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages the flow of electricity in the Golden State. But it will be overseen by an independent board of electricity experts from across the western U.S.