SPP’s Seams Steering Committee on Wednesday endorsed a staff-proposed Tariff change that would grant some transmission customers a four-hour exception from taking SPP transmission service in the case of an unplanned transmission outage that leaves them reliant on the RTO’s system.
The proposal encountered minor turbulence from members who wanted an exception exceeding four hours. It eventually passed by an 8-3 margin, with Kansas City Power & Light and Sunflower Electric Power abstaining.
Staff drafted the proposal to address the committee’s concerns about the current requirement that transmission customers along the SPP seams obtain service from the RTO during an unplanned outage, even if the customer may not normally be required to take the service. Customers that do not prearrange for the service from SPP are charged for unreserved use, and the Tariff does not currently allow the RTO to waive those charges even when a customer unknowingly takes transmission service immediately after an outage.
The proposed change would allow SPP to waive the unreserved use charges during the first four hours of an unplanned outage. Staff said the revision will avoid burdening customers with having to arrange for transmission service during the initial moments of an unplanned outage, while still allowing transmission owners to be compensated.
Staff will now take the proposed change through SPP’s revision-request process. The Regional Tariff Working Group will be responsible for the measure’s progress.
MISO M2M Payments to SPP Exceed $50M
MISO’s market-to-market (M2M) payments to SPP surpassed $50 million in March when the Midwest RTO incurred $3.4 million in charges, increasing its total to $51.4 million since the two neighbors began the process in March 2015.
It was the eighth straight month and 16th of the last 18 that MISO has paid SPP.
SPP’s Nashua-Hawthorn and Riverton-Neosho-Blackberry flowgates — in Kansas and Missouri, respectively — were once again the main culprits, binding for a combined 267 hours and racking up $2.2 million in charges. The flowgates have accounted for more than $32 million in M2M payments to SPP, with the Riverton-Neosho-Blackberry flowgate responsible for $26.5 million.
A shadow-price override was put in place in early April to mitigate that flowgate’s power swings.
SPP, MISO Evaluating Feedback on Joint Studies
SPP and MISO staff are evaluating feedback gathered from their members on how best to improve their interregional planning process. Staff recommendations based on the feedback will be shared with members in May and June, before any tariff changes or joint operating agreement revisions are made.
The RTOs agreed in February to develop a new process for their coordinated system plan. SPP and MISO have conducted two joint studies, but have yet to approve any joint projects. (See MISO, SPP Look to Ease Interregional Project Criteria.)
— Tom Kleckner
