Northwest nonprofits have challenged in federal court the Bonneville Power Administration’s decision to join a Southeast power market and sell Northwest hydropower to customers as far away as Louisiana, saying the change would result in higher energy bills, higher transmission costs, reduced access to renewable energy and threaten the agency’s commitment to salmon and steelhead recovery.
In March, BPA declared in a draft policy that it would join the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+, a day-ahead energy market located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and move away from the real-time market located in California of which it is currently a member. In May the power marketing agency solidified that decision.
The five energy and conservation groups filed the lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle on July 10. The groups are the NW Energy Coalition, Idaho Conservation League, Montana Environmental Information Center, Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board and the Sierra Club. They are represented by Earthjustice.
The groups’ petition to the court is here: https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025.07.10-6341-bpa-day-ahead-petition-final-with-exs.-a-b.pdf
The lawsuit alleges that BPA’s decision “runs counter to BPA’s obligations under the Northwest Power Act to ensure cost effective and reliable power for the Northwest and to also protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the Columbia Basin hydro system.”
BPA had failed to consider the foreseeable environmental impacts of its decision as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, the groups said in a press release. “These impacts should have been studied before BPA made its market choice.”
Bonneville said in its May 9 announcement that it had chosen Markets+, and that it had conducted “a multi-year open and transparent public process to evaluate day-ahead market participation leading up to the development of the policy.”
The agency had posted its draft policy for comment in March. In its record of decision, BPA said that Markets+ will provide economic benefits, will allow for market design modifications through an independent stakeholder process and has been created from the ground up with design features that limit downside financial exposure.
“The policy sets the agency’s strategic direction for future processes and provides the best option to meet BPA’s long-term strategic business interests and statutory mission,” said BPA Administrator and CEO John Hairston.
The policy and ROD are here: https://www.bpa.gov/learn-and-participate/projects/day-ahead-market
However, the challenging petition says that BPA’s choice of Markets+ will likely affect salmon and steelhead and lead to the use of available flexibility in the operation of the federal dams in ways that are harmful to salmon in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, “especially during periods of peak power demand and low water flow, or during periods where Bonneville can make additional money by maximizing power generation within allowable operational limits but to the disadvantage of salmon and other species.”
“BPA doesn’t get carte blanche to sell power outside the Northwest and further compromise salmon and steelhead,” said Mitch Cutter, Salmon & Energy Strategist for the Idaho Conservation League. “Joining an energy market without analyzing the environmental impacts of doing so is illegal. Instead of leveraging energy markets to bring clean energy into the region and help both salmon and ratepayers, BPA’s shortsighted decision will increase power costs and harm endangered, iconic fish.”
At the time (2021) that BPA joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market, developed by the California Independent System Operator, it had said that participating in that market would help it optimize surplus capacity and load service, providing operational and economic benefits for surplus power and savings on short-term purchases.
A day-ahead electricity market is a formalized mechanism for matching electricity demand with supply on a day-ahead basis through the purchase and sale of electricity across an area larger than an individual utility’s service area, the petition says. It can create efficiencies and lower costs.
Regional energy markets allow utilities and energy authorities like BPA to buy and sell electricity across a wider area, which can help lower costs for consumers, provide more access to renewable energy sources and ensure a stable and reliable energy supply, the groups said. They added that choosing an energy market is a big decision for any utility — and for a large power broker like BPA, the effects of choosing the wrong energy market can cascade through dozens of utilities and across multiple states,” they added.
Prior to BPA’s May 2025 decision to join Markets+, Northwest governors, lawmakers, utility regulators and nonprofit conservation groups had asked the agency to reconsider its plans.
BPA expects to make the transition to the Southeast market by October 2028, but says after the move it would still sell energy first to the 140 consumer-owned Northwest utilities, a legal requirement before selling any surplus power, and it would continue to sell surplus power to other Northwest utilities, although not on a priority basis.
The petitioners said that BPA’s own analysis shows that choosing Markets+ was more expensive for consumers and would drive up costs in the entire Pacific Northwest. They pointed to an analysis by Washington and Oregon using BPA’s data in which the states found that joining Markets+ would mean foregoing $4.4 billion in accrued savings on power costs.
The states’ comments to BPA are here: https://publiccomments.bpa.gov/Comment/ViewComment?CommentId=12274#:~:text=BPA%20DAM%20Draft-,Decision,-%2D%20FINAL%204%2D7A
“Studies show that BPA joining Markets+ will result in higher costs, decreased reliability, increased risk of blackouts during extreme weather and more greenhouse gas emissions. This is a terrible decision for Montanans who already pay more in energy costs than most other states in the nation,” said Anne Hedges, Executive Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “BPA serves 300,000 square miles across eight states including Montana. BPA’s decisions will have severe economic and environmental consequences across the region. We deserve a decision that considers the people who have to pay the bills and that doesn’t cause negative environmental consequences.”
The Northwest Power Act requires consideration of “(A) environmental quality, (B) compatibility with the existing regional power system, (C) protection, mitigation, and enhancement of fish and wildlife and related spawning grounds and habitat” when planning for the development or acquisition of resources, the petition says.
BPA decided against joining the Extended-Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), a larger Western market — which its own studies showed would save customers and the agency millions of dollars on an annual basis, would advance energy reliability, and would provide greater access to clean energy sources within and near the eight Western states where BPA sells and transmits electricity if it joined EDAM, the groups said.
“Advocates say the decision to forego cost savings for the region, and instead choosing a market that will drive up costs for the entire region, was arbitrary, and therefore illegal,” the lawsuit says.
“BPA is making a decision with profound impacts on all utility customers in the Northwest for decades to come and appears to have made its decision on factors that will not meet its obligation to provide affordable energy to customers, promote renewable energy, and protect cultural, fish, and wildlife resources,” said Nancy Hirsh, executive director of the NW Energy Coalition. “The ripple effects of this decision could hamstring our region for years to come if nothing is done. Given the stakes for the region, we need the Court to hold BPA accountable to its legal duties under the Northwest Power Act and NEPA.”
“Energy prices have already skyrocketed across the Northwest over the past few years. People are struggling,” said Bob Jenks, Executive Director of Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board. “BPA benefits immensely from the power generated in our region, but its responsibilities to Northwest utility customers rise above what works best for BPA. It must ensure the people in our region aren’t financially harmed by this hasty decision.”
The conservation groups said in their petition that BPA chose an alternative that increases power and transmission costs for customers and others in the region, reduces system reliability, creates costly seams across the Western power and transmission grid and erodes the agency’s access to its current trading partners.
“The decision by BPA to join Markets+ is bad for Northwest ratepayers, our clean energy future, and our environment,” said Robin Everett Deputy Director, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. “BPA is ignoring its legal responsibilities to deliver least cost resources to ratepayers and protect our endangered salmon and steelhead. These neglected priorities must be addressed.”
Oregon and Washington’s four Senators have expressed strong concerns over BPA’s rushed decision to join Markets+ instead of further studying the issue, the groups said. In a May 2025 letter to BPA the Senators wrote, “This decision will likely have profound and lasting impacts on the reliability, affordability, and greenhouse gas emissions of electricity used throughout the Pacific Northwest… Between increasing energy demand, increasing strain on ratepayers, and significant resource adequacy constraints in the Northwest, it is paramount that BPA continue to operate according to sound business principles, as required by statute. That includes ensuring there is the opportunity to consider the full range of market structure options before making a long-term commitment on electricity markets.”
For background, see:
— CBB, May 4, 2022, Rapidly Changing Energy Landscape: BPA Joins Regional Power Sales Market, Balances Supply/Demand Every Five Minutes, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/rapidly-changing-energy-landscape-bpa-joins-regional-power-sales-market-balances-supply-demand-every-five-minutes/
— CBB, Sept. 30, 2021, BPA Decides To Join Western Energy Imbalance Market, Aim Is To Increase Revenues, Reduce Costs https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bpa-decides-to-join-western-energy-imbalance-market-aim-is-to-increase-revenues-reduce-costs/
— CBB, August 6, 2020, BPA CEO Mainzer To Leave Agency At End Of Month, Will Become New Ceo Of California Independent System Operator https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bpa-ceo-mainzer-to-leave-agency-at-end-of-month-will-become-new-ceo-of-california-independent-system-operator/
— CBB, Oct. 3, 2019, Bonneville Power Signs Western Energy Imbalance Market Implementation Agreement https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bonneville-power-signs-western-energy-imbalance-market-implementation-agreement/
— CBB, Aug. 1, 2019, BPA To Install New Meters At Transmission Substations For Eight Dams, Necessary For Joining Western Energy Imbalance Market https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bpa-to-install-new-meters-at-transmission-substations-for-eight-dams-necessary-for-j