By Amanda Durish Cook

Two market efficiency transmission projects already approved by MISO face continued obstacles, while two others slated for belated inclusion in the 2019 Transmission Expansion Plan must wait longer for approval, stakeholders heard last week.

Speaking during a conference call of the Board of Directors’ System Planning Committee on March 24, MISO Executive Director of System Planning Aubrey Johnson said uncertainty lingers for the nearly $129 million Hartburg–Sabine Junction project because of the passage of a Texas law granting incumbent utilities the right of first refusal for any transmission projects built in the state. The law may mean incumbent Entergy ultimately takes up the project. (See Appeals Court Sets Dates in Texas ROFR Challenge.)

The RTO is currently using its established variance analysis process to study the project and developments around it. The analysis is used to study projects already approved under the MISO Transmission Expansion Plan that are later disrupted by circumstances that affect the project’s cost, schedule or “the ability of selected developers and transmission owners to complete.”

“We are now continuing to gather information as part of the variance analysis and continuing to work with legal teams,” Johnson said.

The proposed 23-mile 500-kV transmission line, four short 230-kV lines and new substation would connect three county networks in East Texas and alleviate longstanding congestion and import limitations in the area.

MISO has acknowledged the recent court action, but confidentiality restrictions limit its ability to talk publicly about the project. Spokesperson Allison Bermudez said the RTO will make a further statement once it completes the variance analysis, which is expected soon.

“MISO is committed to delivering the benefits of the Hartburg-Sabine Junction transmission project in East Texas. Under our Tariff, MISO is currently executing a process to assess the Texas state law developments and their impact on the project,” Bermudez told RTO Insider earlier this month.

Huntley-Wilmarth Costs Up

MISO is similarly conducting a variance analysis on the nearly $156 million Huntley-Wilmarth line, which now faces cost overruns after a route change.

Huntley-Wilmarth met the criteria to qualify as a market efficiency project in MISO’s 2016 Transmission Expansion Plan. It would have been open to competitive bidding if not for Minnesota’s right-of-first-refusal law. Original estimated costs on the project ranged from $88 million to $108 million.

MISO said costs increased 30% because of state-ordered changes to the routing plans. The new permitted route will cross the Watonwan River in Minnesota.

Johnson said a variance analysis is automatically triggered when a project experiences cost overruns of more than 25% of original baseline costs.

MISO President Clair Moeller said the analysis is performed to provide a clear public record of the project, not to re-evaluate its merits or halt work.

“Once we approve a project, we don’t really have the ability to stop it,” Moeller said.

MISO executives said they believe Huntley-Wilmarth will still be able to deliver benefits in excess of its cost.

Meanwhile, MISO’s first competitively bid project from 2016 — the $67 million Duff-Coleman 345-kV transmission project in Southern Indiana — is making progress and could be completed as early as June 2020.

MISO-PJM Interregional, 1st SATA Projects not yet Approved

Two holdover projects from MTEP 19 have yet to receive the board approval MISO hoped for by March.

MISO’s first-ever storage-as-transmission project is now on hold after FERC deferred ruling on the RTO’s contentious ruleset for such assets. (See MISO SATOA Proposal Set for Technical Conference.)

“We will not seek approval until Tariff revisions are approved,” Johnson said, noting that MISO staff must first attend a technical conference that will probably be set for late spring.

American Transmission Co.’s Waupaca area energy storage project was meant to ease transmission reliability issues in central Wisconsin.

“What happens — is this project just in limbo? So how do we deal with the congestion that this project was supposed to alleviate?” Director Nancy Lange asked.

Vice President of System Planning Jennifer Curran said MISO wants to “let the process play out a little more” before it decides on a direction or project alternative. She said it is in communication with the developer in the meantime.

MISO also faces more work before the board can approve its first major interregional market efficiency project with PJM.

The $22 million reconstruction of the 138-kV Michigan City-Trail Creek-Bosserman line in the northwestern corner of Indiana can save about $5 million in congestion costs per year, MISO said. (See MISO, PJM Poised for 1st Major Interregional Project.) PJM’s Board of Managers has already approved the project.

But MISO doesn’t yet have an approved regional cost allocation for interregional projects with PJM. FERC rejected its newest interregional cost allocation filing in late March, finding the proposal to reserve regional allocation for market efficiency projects 230 kV and above ignored the potential regional benefits of lower-voltage projects. MISO proposed that its share of interregional economic projects with voltages below 230 kV — but at or above 100 kV — be allocated 100% to the transmission pricing zones where the project is located, barring lower-voltage projects from cost-sharing.

Before the order, MISO staff said the Michigan City-Trail Creek-Bosserman project would not be regionally allocated in, reasoning that the project’s 138-kV rating disqualified it from a regional allocation.

The commission ordered MISO to instead use a design based on adjusted production costs for economic interregional projects 100 kV and above with PJM. MISO has a month to make the filing. (See “Interregional Filing Also Rejected,” Another Rejection for MISO Cost Allocation Plan.)

MISO will submit the filing within FERC’s 30-day deadline, Johnson confirmed. He said the wait for FERC’s response would probably push approval of Michigan City-Trail Creek-Bosserman to MISO’s June Board Week.