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BPA, Utilities Join to Develop Dynamic Scheduling by Staff BPA Journal, June 2009

BPA and 14 other Western utilities will issue a Request for Proposals for a vendor to develop a common dynamic scheduling system. Such a system could reduce costs of integrating large amounts of wind and other variable power sources for participating utilities.

Dynamic scheduling allows a balancing authority to control a load or generation that is physically located in another balancing authority's geographic area. This requires a system to electronically connect the generation or load to the remote balancing authority that will control it.

Currently, BPA supplies reserves exclusively from the federal hydro system to balance the variations in wind power. Improved dynamic scheduling with other utilities could provide access to more reserves at lower cost.

A balancing authority is the geographic area in which one transmission provider maintains the constant balance between generation and loads needed to keep the lights on. BPA's balancing authority covers much of rural Oregon and Washington but excludes larger cities in the balancing authorities of Portland General Electric, Seatt le City Light, Tacoma Public Utilities, Avista, Idaho Power Company and other utilities.

BPA signed an Agreement of Interest with regional transmission organizations ColumbiaGrid and the Northern Tier Transmission Group to create a common, consistent dynamic scheduling system. Utilities that signed up serve areas from British Columbia to New Mexico.

ColumbiaGrid expects to award a contract for dynamic scheduling system development by the end of June and to launch the system by the first quarter of 2010. BPA will determine whether to implement the dynamic scheduling system on its transmission grid aft er the system is developed.

For more information, go to www.columbiagrid.org/notices-detail.cfm?NoticeID=46.