SPP is a regional transmission organization (RTO) that coordinates dispatch and transmission of wholesale electricity in parts of 14 states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. SPP acts as an Independent System Operator (ISO), operates a competitive wholesale electricity market in its market area, manages the high-voltage electricity grid to ensure reliability, and provides reliability coordination in its market area as well as parts of Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. SPP is also responsible for long-term regional transmission planning in its market area.
Southwest Power Pool was founded in 1941 when 11 regional power companies joined to keep an Arkansas aluminum factory powered around the clock to meet critical defense needs. After the war, SPP's Executive Committee decided the organization should be retained to maintain electric reliability and coordination.
SPP incorporated as an Arkansas nonprofit organization in 1994 and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved SPP as a regional transmission organization in 2004. In 2014, SPP launched its integrated marketplace, which provided an organized market for real-time and day-ahead energy. That year it also became a regional balancing authority. SPP expanded its operations in 2015 to serve all or parts of 14 states.