MISO will ask FERC to waive a specific generation interconnection queue requirement to assist developers whose projects face construction preparation delays in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RTO will request a “limited FERC waiver” of its June 25 deadline for developers to demonstrate site control for projects entering MISO South’s 2020 interconnection cycle, Manager of Probabilistic Resource Studies Ryan Westphal told listeners on a Planning Advisory Committee call Wednesday. MISO has settled on a 60-day extension of the deadline.

Westphal said the chief concern of most interconnection customers is how they will meet deadlines to show exclusive land use for generation projects during the pandemic. MISO’s next site control deadline doesn’t occur until September, when the 2020 MISO West batch of projects enter the queue.

“There’s still uncertainty of when some states and localities will lift restrictions,” he said. “We’re looking at the near future and can go back to FERC to extend waivers as necessary.”

Westphal said the request specifically applies to the site control deadline and would not affect other queue deadlines. However, he said, additional waivers “are on the table” if the pandemic wears on and groups of interconnection customers encounter similar obstacles. (See MISO Considers COVID-19 Queue Waivers.) “At least” two interconnection customers have reached out to MISO to discuss special circumstances affecting their projects, he said.

MISO will not hold a call to discuss the finalized filing with stakeholders and will file in the “next two weeks,” Westphal said.

Social distancing efforts have been skewing MISO load and planned outages since mid-March. (See COVID-19 Transforming MISO Load, Outage Schedules.)

— Amanda Durish Cook