Panelists debating the pros and cons of a regionalized western power grid seemed to agree that the development of such a system is inevitable, but they disagreed on how fast the evolution should occur.

The panel discussion took place during the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Stakeholder Symposium held on September 7 in Sacramento. At one point, the moderator of the session, John Danner, senior fellow at the University of California, Berkley, Hass School of Business, suggested that the dialogue had progressed beyond the question of whether or why a regional approach might be beneficial, to a debate about how and when it should be implemented (Figure 1).

1. Western collaboration. Participating in the panel discussion exploring a western grid were (from left to right) John Danner, Anne George, Jan Smutny-Jones, Marc Joseph, and Rob Lapsley. Source: California ISO

“It’s certainly true that the physics suggest operating a bigger grid is better,” said Marc Joseph, attorney with Adams, Broadwell, Joseph, and Cardozo, “but .…

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