MISO and PJM will not take on customary interregional planning studies this year, deciding they have enough on their plates with a new and in-progress joint transfer study.

The grid operators announced they would devote their attention throughout 2025 to their interregional transfer capability study (ITCS), a new type of study that might yield projects that allow for a greater volume of transfers. (See Smaller Projects Expected from Maiden MISO-PJM Joint Tx Study and OMS, OPSI Pen 2nd Letter to MISO and PJM to Compel Meaningful Interregional Planning.) The two decided against undertaking a more traditional coordinated system plan, which could result in more expensive interregional market efficiency projects, or their established, smaller targeted market efficiency project study.

MISO and PJM arrived at the conclusion after conducting an annual issues review designed to look for transmission opportunities. The process is required under their joint operating agreement.

The RTOs said there’s a possibility their ITCS changes the way the two manage future interregional studies. They said their transfer study could lay the “foundation for assessing future coordinated planning needs.” MISO and PJM are working from a blended, long-term model that combines the RTOs’ assumptions to identify system needs in the transfer study, a first for two major North American RTOs.

“By focusing our efforts on the ITCS, we aim to gain a clearer understanding of emerging transfer limitations and deliverability issues across the seam. The insights gained through this study will help guide future planning activities and determine whether additional interregional analysis or project development is appropriate in subsequent years,” MISO and PJM said in an April 18 emailed statement to their stakeholders.

The two said they would update stakeholders as the transfer study progresses and if “planning needs arise that warrant further coordination.”

MISO and PJM so far have identified more than 30 shared reliability, transfer and economic issues that could form the basis for upgrades under the ITCS.

In an emailed statement to RTO Insider, MISO said the goal remains to develop a draft portfolio by the end of 2025. MISO said it and PJM plan to open a monthlong stakeholder comment period at the end of April to solicit solutions.

MISO and PJM previously said they would focus on equipment upgrades and projects that can use existing rights-of-way in the first transfer study. They said the study, combined with FERC Order 1920, could open the door for longer-term interregional planning and greenfield projects.

MISO and PJM historically have approved one interregional market efficiency project in 2020 and four sets of the smaller targeted market efficiency projects aimed at relieving congestion since 2017. They haven’t completed an interregional transmission planning study since 2022.