BHE Montana Joins CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market

CUT BANK, Mont.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BHE Montana announced today it has joined the California Independent System Operator’s Western Energy Imbalance Market – also referred to as the WEIM – through the execution of its WEIM implementation agreement on October 30, 2023. BHE Montana will be the first company that operates both a generation only and renewable only balancing authority to join the WEIM, adding 399 megawatts of clean energy generation from three windfarms and 75 megawatts of a battery energy storage system. BHE Montana’s participation in the WEIM will bring enhanced reliability to the energy grid within the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, a system covering 14 Western states, two Canadian provinces and the northern portion of Baja California, Mexico.

“We are excited to integrate more renewable energy into the WEIM, enhancing reliability and clean energy availability in the West,” said Nancy Murray, president, BHE Montana. “We are proud of this important milestone for BHE Montana and look forward to continuing to move the energy transition forward in the region.”

BHE Montana’s implementation date into the WEIM is May 2026. The WEIM’s advanced market system automatically finds low-cost energy to serve real-time consumer demand across the West. Since its launch in 2014, the WEIM has enhanced grid reliability and generated cost savings for its participants. Besides its economic advantages, the WEIM improves the integration of renewable energy, which leads to a cleaner, greener grid.

BHE Montana operates the 189-megawatt Rim Rock windfarm near Cut Bank, Montana, as well as the 106.5-megawatt Glacier I and 103.5-megawatt Glacier II windfarms that span southwest Glacier County and southeast Toole County in northern Montana.