What power grid am I on?
The US doesn’t have one grid — it has three interconnections, seven organized markets, and dozens of utility-run balancing areas, drawn along utility territories rather than state lines. Pick your state for the specific answer, then open that grid live.
Every state, and the grid that runs it
- Alabama
Alabama has no organized wholesale market — Alabama Power (Southern Company) serves most of the state, with TVA in the north.
- Alaska
Alaska is not connected to the Lower 48 at all — the Railbelt utilities run their own isolated grid between Fairbanks, Anchorage, and the Kenai Peninsula, and remote communities run standalone systems.
- Arizona
Arizona has no organized wholesale market — APS, SRP, and TEP balance their own areas within the Western Interconnection.
- California
Most of California is CAISO — but Los Angeles (LADWP), Sacramento (SMUD/BANC), and the Imperial Irrigation District balance their own areas outside it.
- Colorado
Colorado has no organized wholesale market of its own — Xcel Energy and other utilities balance the state within the Western Interconnection, and some eastern-plains cooperatives take service through SPP.
- Connecticut
Connecticut is entirely within ISO New England.
- Delaware
Delaware is entirely within PJM.
- District of Columbia
Washington, DC is entirely within PJM.
- Florida
Florida has no organized wholesale market — FPL, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, and municipal utilities balance their own areas, with a sliver of Southern Company territory in the western Panhandle.
- Georgia
Georgia has no organized wholesale market — Georgia Power (Southern Company) and the state's cooperatives and municipals serve it, with TVA touching the northern edge.
- Hawaii
Hawaii's islands each run isolated grids operated by Hawaiian Electric and KIUC — there is no interconnection between islands or to the mainland.
- Idaho
Idaho has no organized wholesale market — Idaho Power, Avista, and PacifiCorp balance the state within the Western Interconnection.
- Kansas
Kansas is entirely within SPP.
- Kentucky
Kentucky is a patchwork: East Kentucky Power and Kentucky Power are in PJM, TVA serves the west, and LG&E/KU run their own balancing area in between.
- Maine
Maine is within ISO New England — except far-northern Aroostook County, which connects through New Brunswick rather than the ISO-NE grid.
- Maryland
Maryland is entirely within PJM.
- Massachusetts
Massachusetts is entirely within ISO New England.
- Minnesota
Minnesota is entirely within MISO.
- Mississippi
Mississippi is split three ways: Entergy Mississippi territory is in MISO, TVA serves the north, and Mississippi Power (Southern Company) serves the southeast.
- Nebraska
Nebraska is entirely within SPP — served by public power districts (NPPD, OPPD, LES).
- Nevada
Nevada has no organized wholesale market — NV Energy balances the state within the Western Interconnection.
- New Hampshire
New Hampshire is entirely within ISO New England.
- New Jersey
New Jersey is entirely within PJM.
- New Mexico
Most of New Mexico is utility-balanced within the Western Interconnection (PNM, El Paso Electric); the southeastern corner, served by Xcel's SPS, is in SPP.
- New York
New York is entirely within NYISO — one state, one ISO, eleven load zones.
- North Carolina
North Carolina has no organized market for most of its territory — Duke Energy balances the bulk of the state — but the northeastern counties served by Dominion are in PJM.
- Ohio
Ohio is entirely within PJM.
- Oklahoma
Oklahoma is entirely within SPP.
- Oregon
Oregon has no organized wholesale market — BPA, PacifiCorp, and Portland General balance the state within the Western Interconnection.
- Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is entirely within PJM — the market's original home.
- Rhode Island
Rhode Island is entirely within ISO New England.
- South Carolina
South Carolina has no organized wholesale market — Duke Energy, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Santee Cooper balance the state.
- Tennessee
Tennessee has no organized wholesale market — TVA balances virtually the entire state.
- Texas
About 90% of Texas load is on ERCOT — its own interconnection, separate from the rest of the country. El Paso is in the Western Interconnection, and the upper Panhandle plus parts of east Texas are served through SPP and MISO.
- Utah
Utah has no organized wholesale market — PacifiCorp (Rocky Mountain Power) balances the state within the Western Interconnection.
- Vermont
Vermont is entirely within ISO New England.
- Virginia
Virginia is almost entirely within PJM — including the data-center corridor in the north; a small southwestern corner is served by TVA.
- Washington
Washington has no organized wholesale market — BPA and the state's utilities balance it within the Western Interconnection.
- West Virginia
West Virginia is entirely within PJM.
- Wisconsin
Wisconsin is almost entirely MISO, with a small northwestern area historically tied to the MISO market through Xcel's system.
- Wyoming
Wyoming has no organized wholesale market — PacifiCorp and Black Hills balance the state within the Western Interconnection.
Common questions
- What power grid am I on?
- It depends on your state — and sometimes on your county. Seven organized markets (ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO, NYISO, ISO-NE, and SPP) operate the grid for about two-thirds of US demand; the Southeast and most of the non-California West are run directly by utilities instead. Pick your state above for the specific answer.
- What are the three US power grids?
- The continental US runs on three nearly independent interconnections: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and ERCOT (most of Texas). They operate at the same frequency but are only weakly linked by a handful of DC ties, so power mostly cannot flow between them.
- What is the difference between an ISO and a utility?
- An ISO (independent system operator) runs a wholesale market and dispatches the grid across many utilities' territories; your utility still owns the wires and sends your bill. In regions without an ISO, the utility does both jobs — it balances its own area and there is no organized market.
- Why does my state have more than one grid operator?
- Grid boundaries follow utility service territories, not state lines. States like Illinois, Missouri, and the Dakotas are split between two markets because different utilities in the state joined different ISOs.
Want the deeper mechanics? Read balancing authority in the glossary, or explore all seven markets on the markets directory.