Southwest Power Pool (SPP) manages the electric grid and wholesale power market for the central United States. As a regional transmission organization, the nonprofit corporation is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale electricity prices. Southwest Power Pool and its member companies coordinate the flow of electricity across approximately 60,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines spanning 14 states. The company is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.

History

SPP's story began in the early days of

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when America was ramping up production of weapons and military supplies. After entering the War, America needed to produce aluminum for aircraft manufacture.

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

and

Reynolds Metals Company Reynolds Group Holdings is a New Zealand based packaging company with roots in the former Reynolds Metals Company, which was the second-largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third-largest in the world. Reynolds Metals was acquire ...

established themselves in Arkansas, which had the largest commercially exploitable

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

deposit at that time. In 1941, government agency

Defense Plant Corporation The Defense Plant Corporation,(DPC), was subsidiary of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a government corporation run by the United States Federal Government between 1940 and 1945. To win World War II the United States and its Allied Nations ...

opened a plant in

Jones Mill, Arkansas Jones Mill (also known as Jones Mills) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 411. Jones Mill is locat ...

, with the intent of operating 24/7 to supply the war effort. The government leased the plant to Alcoa for operations. The Jones Mill Plant alone required 120 megawatts (MW) of electrical power to operate; this exceeded the state's entire generation (100 MW at peak, excluding outages). Due to the war effort, there was not enough manpower nor raw materials to build further electrical generation. Executives of Southwest power utilities decided to pool their generation resources together to ensure the region's reliability and dependability during the wartime. The existence of Southwest Power Pool was out of necessity and scarcity. After the war, executives saw the expertise and efficiency that was created and decided to remain a power pool. Southwest Power Pool, Inc. was formed Dec. 14, 1941, with 11 regional utilities entering into an inter-company agreement. The 11 companies were Arkansas Power & Light, Louisiana Power & Light, and Mississippi Power & Light (subsidiaries of

Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and ge ...

), Southwestern Gas and Electric and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (now subsidiaries of

American Electric Power American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...

), Nebraska Power, Texas Power & Light, Southern Light and Power, Oklahoma Gas and Electric, Kansas Gas and Electric, and Empire District Electric. Here are some other notable events in SPP’s history: 1968 - Became NERC Regional Council 1980 - Implemented telecommunications network 1991 - Implemented operating reserve sharing 1994 - Incorporated as nonprofit 1997 - Implemented reliability coordination 1998 - Implemented tariff administration 2004 - Became FERC-approved Regional Transmission Organization 2007 - Launched EIS market 2009 - Integrated Nebraska utilities 2010 - FERC approved Highway/Byway cost allocation methodology and Integrated Transmission Planning Process 2012 - Moved to new Corporate Center 2014 - Launched Integrated Marketplace Became regional

balancing authority A balancing authority (BA) is an entity in the US electric system (as well as in parts of Canada and Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is borde ...

2015 - Integrated System joins SPP 2018 -

regional entity A regional entity (RE) in the North American power transmission grid is a regional organization representing all segments of the electric industry: electric utilities (investor-owned, cooperatives, state, regional, and municipal), federal agenci ...

operation dissolved 2019 - Launched western reliability coordination services 2021 - Western Energy Imbalance Services (WEIS) market starts

Members and company status

SPP was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 1994 and was approved as a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2004. The SPP region lies within the

Eastern Interconnection The Eastern Interconnection is one of the two major alternating-current (AC) electrical grids in the North American power transmission grid. The other major interconnection is the Western Interconnection. The three minor interconnections are ...

in the central

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, serving all of the states of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and portions of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. SPP members include investor-owned utilities, municipal systems, generation and transmission cooperatives, state authorities, independent power producers, and power marketers. SPP has many of the

high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spec ...

direct current (DC) ties which connect the Eastern interconnection to the

Western Interconnection The Western Interconnection is a wide area synchronous grid and one of the two major alternating current, alternating current (AC) power grids in the North American power transmission grid. The other major wide area synchronous grid is the East ...

and both of the DC ties to ERCOT

Texas Interconnection The Texas Interconnection is an alternating current (AC) power grid – a wide area synchronous grid – that covers most of the state of Texas. The grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The Texas Inter ...

. SPP also provides services in the Western Interconnection as of 2019 in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, and Utah. SPP is developing an Energy Imbalance Service Market in the West as well.

Notes

References

External links

Home Page

History of SPP

Southwest Power Pool Overview (FERC)
{{Regional transmission organization (north america) Electric power transmission system operators in the United States Eastern Interconnection 1941 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1941 Wide area synchronous grids