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Iowa and California are on the same grid.

They're both the exact same resource mix because it's the exact same grid.

The difference in cost is entirely contracting and last mile transmission.

A quick glance at this next map will show that Iowa is not in WECC (although Idaho is):

Also, just because 2 states are interconnected doesn't mean that the interconnects have enough capacity for electricity sources to be fungible.

You're right they're on the eastern interconnect, which is even larger and harder to reason about.

Edit: After the 2003 blackouts the Eastern interconnect got much more... connected