A transformative approach to electricity trading is making waves in the Western United States, aiming to revolutionize how utilities manage supply and demand. Known as the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), this system enhances an existing real-time trading market that has been operational since 2014.
Proponents of EDAM highlight its potential to save consumers money. The pre-existing real-time market has already resulted in customer savings nearing $7 billion by enabling utilities to exchange surplus power during short intervals before peaks in demand.
EDAM builds on this foundation by providing utilities with increased planning time. “When you have a day to plan, you know where the wind is going to be blowing, you know where the sun is going to be shining,” explained Brian Turner from Advanced Energy United, a clean energy advocacy group. “And you can turn up and down your other generation, the coal plants or the gas plants.”
Turner noted that this additional preparation time enables utilities to better align supply with demand, particularly during extreme weather conditions when electricity consumption can jump significantly.
Moreover, EDAM is expected to drive down costs by facilitating the purchase of less expensive power from neighboring states, reducing the reliance on local power generation alone.
Among the first to adopt this new market is Rocky Mountain Power, Wyoming’s largest utility, with other Western utilities expected to follow suit in the coming years.
The introduction of EDAM coincides with rising electricity demands, increasing summer temperatures, and intensified efforts to incorporate renewable energy sources like wind and solar into the electricity grid across the Mountain West.
This report was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of multiple public radio stations and NPR, with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
