A group of five Northwest energy and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court over Bonneville Power Administration’s recent decision to join Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+, a power market operator.
The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing debate among public and private utilities centering on how to keep electricity affordable and reliable in the Pacific Northwest amid worsening weather events, spiking prices and ever increasing demand.
The petitioners, who are represented by Earthjustice and include the Sierra Club and NW Energy Coalition, allege that BPA, a federal agency that provides around 32% of the power generated in the Northwest, improperly rushed to join Markets+, an energy trading market, violating laws and leading to more expensive electricity for customers.
BPA declined to comment, citing active litigation.
As heat waves and cold snaps have grown more frequent and extreme from climate change, power prices have spiked. Hydropower, which historically has powered the bulk of the region’s electricity, has also grown more variable each year due to drought.
These changes along with increased demand from data centers and electrification mandates and more variable energy from wind and solar have led local utilities to look at joining broader market pools that cover a bigger geographic footprint. Utility managers hope that joining these pools, which typically optimize energy trading, will result in more reliable access to electricity and at lower rates.
In March, BPA announced plans to join the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+ system based in Arkansas over the California Independent System Operator.
The nonprofit federal agency is a major wholesale provider of electricity for the region and the decision had been closely watched by local utilities like Seattle City Light, some U.S. senators, energy guzzlers like Amazon and Google and some environmental and energy advocates, who had urged BPA to pump the brakes on a decision.
However, not all utilities agreed, and Chelan, Grant and Snohomish County PUDs had indicated a preference for Markets+. Since then, utilities including Puget Sound Energy and Tacoma Power have announced decisions to join Markets+.
Opponents, including those who filed the lawsuit, argue that Markets+ will raise electricity prices, pointing to a study commissioned by BPA that the power market will be $79 million to $129 million more costly in 2026 for Bonneville — and its ratepayers — compared with business as usual under some scenarios.
BPA has countered that while initial costs in the first few years of Markets+ participation are more costly, those costs will level out and will ultimately be financially beneficial for customers.
After the lawsuit was filed, Seattle City Light said in a statement that it had been “deeply disappointed” in BPA’s decision to join Markets+ and that the decision will cost ratepayers $20 million to $40 million each year. The Save Our Wild Salmon coalition also applauded the lawsuit in a statement.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals alleges that BPA’s choice to join Markets+ violates its obligations under the Northwest Power Act to ensure cost-effective and reliable power for the region and to protect fish and wildlife in the Columbia Basin. The lawsuit also alleges that BPA failed to consider and properly study environmental impacts, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
