The policy and institutional challenges of grid integration of renewable energy in the western United States

•We examine the political, institutional, economic, legal and cultural attributes of the United States' Western Interconnection.•From this, we assess the potential and feasibility of organized energy markets for the Western Interconnection.•We discuss whether organized markets are necessary in the West for optimal integration of renewable energy.

Are organized markets necessary in the U.S. Western Interconnection for cost-optimal integration of renewable energy resources that, in accordance with state mandates, must be brought online in the coming decades? We examine the technological components of the western power grid as well as its political, institutional, economic, legal, and cultural attributes to assess the potential and feasibility of organized markets.