MISO will not implement improved combined cycle modeling until it has a new market platform in place, stakeholders learned last week.

The RTO plans to initially offer seven different modeling options, including combinations of combustion and steam turbines, but operators of combined cycle generators must now wait until 2022 for the improved model.

MISO last month completed a conceptual design for the more sophisticated modeling that can accommodate different combinations of combined cycle units and their dependencies. And while the RTO originally hoped to have software in place by 2020 to offer new modeling options, its outdated market platform is limiting what improvements it can undertake. (See “Limited Improvements for Old Platform,” MISO Platform Replacement Risks Delay, Budget Overrun.)

Speaking at a July 12 Market Subcommittee meeting, MISO market analyst Chuck Hansen said the conceptual design will still be turned over to a third-party vendor for more in-depth work during the 18-month pause on the project. He said most of that work is not dependent on having the new market platform operational and can be advanced without delay. He also said MISO’s legal team will begin drafting Tariff language during the hold.

MISO Market Design Engineer Congcong Wang said the proposal will represent one of the most complex participation models in the RTO’s energy and ancillary service markets to date. The RTO has predicted the new model could save an annual $14 million to $34 million in production costs.

MISO currently has 44 combined cycle gas turbine resources, with more predicted to come online. Since its markets began, MISO has been modeling combined cycle units as either a single aggregate resource or as individual units.

— Amanda Durish Cook