MISO appears poised to eliminate its Seams Management Working Group (SMWG) after about 15 years.
The Market Subcommittee voted via a simple majority at a July 10 meeting to sunset the group. MISO’s Steering Committee is set to vote at its Aug. 5 meeting to confirm or deny the cancellation.
Group chair Terry Jarrett, of the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, said topics have dried up since 2023, with “minimal content due to most major seams topics being covered in other forums” and fewer seams data points provided by MISO to the group. Jarrett also noted that transmission planning at the seams has become a more attention-grabbing topic than seams management.
Jarrett said the “participation rate has dwindled over the years” to a dozen or two dozen attendees when other stakeholder committees attract a hundred or more.
Jarrett said from his tracking since 2022, there have been 13 SMWG meetings scheduled, with just two containing substantive discussions. Eight covered only “minimal content and participation” while three either were cancelled or downgraded from meetups into documents that MISO posted to its website for review, he said.
Jarrett added that the group has been lacking a vice chair since late 2022 due to low interest among the stakeholder community.
“There’s really nothing going on for the SMWG to do, and nothing on the horizon,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett said discussions on MISO’s seams issues should be transferred to Market Subcommittee meetings.
“Working groups are intended to be temporary. It is clear that the SMWG has successfully rallied MISO and the stakeholder community around seams coordination. With seams coordination effectively operationalized at MISO, there isn’t much value left for a dedicated seams working group,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett said at the group’s May meeting, he put a possible sunset of the group to a vote. Jarrett said despite a record 46 participants listening in, only eight individuals voted, resulting in a 4-4 stalemate.
MISO Independent Market Monitor Carrie Milton requested that MISO continue to focus on seams topics, including MISO and PJM’s ongoing effort to revise their 2004 freeze date used to determine flow rights and the issue of sharing capacity near the regional transfer limit between MISO Midwest and MISO South, SPP and other parties.
