Who Is SPP?
- SPP
- Dec 4
- 2 min read
The electric industry and SPP's role is complex. Let's talk about it.
SPP is a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO).
What exactly does an RTO do?
As an RTO, SPP coordinates the reliability of the transmission system and balances electric supply and demand in our footprint comprised of 14 states within the Eastern Interconnection, which is one of the two major power grids in North America.
Member companies including electric utilities, power producers, transmission operators and others that voluntarily join SPP, serve customers in their specific region of our footprint.
How does SPP serve its members?
SPP helps member companies in several ways including assisting members in keeping the lights on, saving member companies money, facilitating electricity trading, and providing multiple other services, such as transmission and generation connection.
How does SPP help members keep their customers' lights on?
SPP schedules which power producing facilities, also known as generators or resources, need to provide power onto the grid to meet demand for electricity at a given time. SPP also helps power flow over the transmission lines in real-time when needed. SPP plans new transmission lines or upgrades to existing lines to make sure power can flow from where it is produced to where it is needed.
How does SPP help members save money?
SPP is governed by a tariff which includes consistent rates and terms to manage the transmission system in our footprint.
If each utility was responsible for its own power lines and generation, costs would be astronomical and management impossible. SPP also coordinates a market which gives companies access to the most economical wholesale power available to serve their customers.
As an RTO, SPP increases the reliability of electricity for our members' customers while lowering our members' costs.
In summary, as an RTO, SPP is required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to provide the following services to our members:
Reliability Coordination
Tariff Administration
Regional Scheduling
Market Administration
Transmission Planning
What other benefits does SPP provide?
In addition to the above responsibilities and services, SPP is also a Balancing Authority, which means that SPP maintains the balance between the demand for electricity and the generation, or supply, of electricity from resources. SPP balances demand and generation continuously in real-time within the footprint. This is crucial because if supply and demand get out of balance, costly damage can occur to parts of the grid and large areas of the county can lose power.
What SPP does and how we do it is complex and can be confusing. We get it.
That's because the regulation, operation and protection of "the grid" is detailed and multi-layered. There are many parties responsible for ensuring you get electricity when you need it.
As an RTO, SPP plays an important role by planning a robust transmission system within our footprint and providing a market that has the most cost-effective resources to provide electricity at any given time to ensure savings for our members and reliability for our customers.