FERC told MISO it needs a few more edits to its queue rules to be compliant with the commission’s wide-ranging order to streamline generator interconnection.
FERC decided MISO is free to maintain its three-phase approach to interconnection queue studies under Order 2023. The commission said MISO’s setup already used a cluster study process with a first-ready, first served philosophy for projects in accordance with its order and therefore didn’t require a transition plan. FERC also said MISO’s site control requirements, milestone payments, withdrawal penalty fees and study deposits were appropriate under Order 2023 (ER24-2046).
FERC issued Order 2023 in July 2023, seeking to clear backlogged interconnection queues by implementing a first-ready, first-served cluster study process; increasing interconnection customers’ financial obligations; and penalizing grid operators for missing study deadlines. (See FERC Updates Interconnection Queue Process with Order 2023.)
However, FERC in a June 26 order said some details of MISO’s plan need refinement. It said MISO fell short in describing how it would allocate the costs of different types of network upgrades. FERC noted that MISO’s plan didn’t distinguish between thermal and non-thermal network upgrades, though its business practice manuals make a distinction.
The commission said MISO didn’t include a plan for allocating the shared costs of cluster studies and ordered MISO to revise its interconnection procedures to include an allocation that assigns between 10 and 50% of study costs per capita, with the remaining 50 to 90% allocated pro rata by megawatt.
FERC said MISO should have committed to updating a points-of-interconnection heat map after the final system impact study takes place. MISO proposed to provide the heat map one time after it completes a preliminary system impact study. FERC said without a heat map update after the final system impact study, prospective interconnection customers might rely on outdated information to decide whether to enter their projects.
The commission said MISO needed to eliminate the term “reasonable efforts” in a section on completing affected system studies and preparing a final report.
Order 2023 ended a “reasonable efforts” standard on interconnection studies. Instead, the order requires transmission providers to meet fixed study deadlines and enacts financial penalties for delays.
FERC said MISO must remove a provision that multiple interconnection customers must form a common business entity before they could share a single interconnection request. FERC said multiple interconnection customers that have a contract or agreement can co-locate and share a single interconnection request without creating an LLC.
The commission also said MISO should not have included steps that allow a transmission provider to conduct extra studies to assess a request for surplus interconnection service. FERC said the additional measures aren’t necessary under Oder 2023 and rejected them without prejudice to MISO proposing them in a future filing.
Finally, FERC ordered MISO to define several terms it used throughout its filing and rephrase other parts of the plan. MISO has 60 days to make the changes.
