The new Model Manager — part of MISO’s ongoing effort to replace its outdated market platform — will start running in the third quarter of 2021. It’s designed to be a singular repository for its many planning models and will include a customized grid-engineering software application. The RTO currently relies on several different methods to collect and validate grid information for modeling.

Planning Modeling Manager Amanda Schiro said now is the time for members to get acquainted with the Model Manager and prepare their systems for the interface changes.

“Processes are going to change. Members’ data submission processes will need to adapt to the new modeling system,” she told stakeholders during a Planning Subcommittee meeting Tuesday. “Actions taken now to ensure readiness will allow for a smooth transition to the new system.”

MISO Reports Nearly 900 Active Tx Projects

MISO is managing almost $11 billion in active transmission projects, according to the latest quarterly statistics gathered for its annual Transmission Expansion Plans (MTEPs).

The grid operator is tracking 890 active projects at $10.7 billion, with 147 projects, worth around $3 billion, currently under construction. The list doesn’t include the 514 projects in MTEP 20, estimated to cost $4 billion, that MISO plans to advance for approval during the Board of Directors meeting Dec. 10. (See MISO in Final Stretch of $4B MTEP 20.)

Expansion Planning Engineer Gregory Plauck said most of the projects are expected to be in service within the next few years.

Over the third quarter, staff said developers withdrew 25 transmission projects worth $237.6 million.

Plauck said about $25 billion worth of projects have gone into service since MISO began its MTEP planning cycles in 2003.