FERC ruled that MISO is free to continue using its interconnection queue “fast lane,” shutting down rehearing requests from several clean energy organizations.
The commission on Jan. 22 concluded again that MISO’s temporary expedited queue process for generation projects deemed necessary by states is “appropriately tailored to address” near-term resource adequacy needs (ER25-2454).
The clean energy groups that requested rehearing included the Clean Grid Alliance, Sierra Club, Sustainable FERC Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, Southern Renewable Energy Association, Clean Wisconsin, Advanced Energy United, American Clean Power Association and Solar Energy Industries Association.
They argued MISO doesn’t confront the dire resource adequacy crisis it purports to be facing, saying the RTO and the Organization of MISO States’ 2025 Resource Adequacy Survey showed that by 2031, the footprint could have a surplus ranging from 1.4 to 6.1 GW.
The groups also said that MISO could have looked to its regular interconnection queue to find helpful generation and argued the fast lane would drain the RTO’s manpower at the expense of the regular process.
FERC said that contrary to the organizations’ claims, MISO has “sufficiently documented that its region is likely to face near-term resource adequacy needs” that will not be satisfied by existing projects in the regular interconnection queue.
The commission also said that regulators are under no obligation to comb through the existing queue to find a project to meet a resource adequacy need, adding that MISO’s queue process falls outside of state regulators’ jurisdiction.
Furthermore, FERC said once it found the fast track was a reasonable means of addressing resource adequacy risks, “we need not — and cannot under the standard applicable here — consider whether an alternative proposal that imposed this ‘search for a better project’ requirement might be preferable.”
‘Permissible Departure’
MISO created the temporary queue express lane to more quicky get necessary generation online. Throughout 2026, the grid operator will accept four 15-project cycles into the fast track.
The first two cycles, accepted in 2025, overwhelmingly comprise gas generation. MISO expects the 11 GW of new natural gas generation from this phase to begin coming online in 2028. (See MISO Accepts 6 GW of Mostly Gas Gen in 2nd Queue Fast Lane Class.)
FERC disagreed that it stepped outside of its precedent prohibiting discrimination in generator interconnection to approve the express lane and said its decision “arises in the particular context of a potential resource adequacy shortfall in MISO and, therefore, reflects a permissible departure from the standardized generator interconnection procedure.” It found the RTO’s design “contains sufficient guardrails to address the concerns relating to undue discrimination.”
The commission determined that interconnection customers in the fast lane are “differently situated” than MISO’s other interconnection customers and can be allowed shorter wait times, slightly different studies and ultimately pay less for interconnection service.
“To the extent [expedited] interconnection customers receive favorable terms of interconnection as part of this one-time process, we find that this treatment flows from reasonable choices in the design” of the expedited queue, FERC said in its order.
FERC added that regular interconnection customers could benefit from the network upgrades built by expedited interconnection customers.
The commission decided once more that the expedited queue can help sustain resource adequacy and said that even with the three-year grace period for expedited projects to come online, the last cycle of studied projects would be operational in August 2033 at the latest, within the timeline to address MISO’s pressing resource adequacy problems.
FERC pointed out that objective regulatory agencies must verify the project need and said regulators are “uniquely positioned to see the need and review the project that is being proposed.”
It also noted that expedited interconnection requests are subject to stricter requirements than those in the standard interconnection queue, including higher fees per megawatt, a $100,000 nonrefundable deposit, definitive proof of land use and a requirement to pay for all network upgrades. It said those requirements encourage only shovel-ready projects to apply.
The commission reiterated that MISO’s creation of a limited, temporary process strikes a balance between ensuring resource adequacy while limiting the fast track to a manageable number of interconnection requests that can be studied quickly. The commission said despite the clean energy organizations’ arguments, the process is a one-time exercise conducted over a specific time frame. It said the quarterly nature of the studies doesn’t suggest that MISO plans to exceed the 68-project cap or repeat the process.
“This approach falls well within the flexibility we afford to RTOs/ISOs to design appropriate solutions to their interconnection challenges and well within a reasonable view of what constitutes a ‘one-time’ process,” FERC wrote.
Altogether, MISO’s temporary process would accommodate 68 projects, with 10 set aside for independent power producers and eight reserved for entities serving retail choice load in downstate Illinois and part of Michigan.
