By Amanda Durish Cook

FERC has allowed MISO and PJM to implement the first of a two-phase fix to remedy the RTOs’ double-charging of congestion fees on pseudo-tied generation.

The commission on Tuesday approved amendments to the RTOs’ joint operating agreement addressing market-to-market (M2M) settlement and day-ahead coordination of pseudo-tie transactions (ER18-136-003, ER18-137-003).

Effective Aug. 1, the RTOs will calculate day-ahead LMPs “that reflect the real-time usage of the pseudo-tied resource,” FERC said. To model generator pseudo-tie impacts, the RTOs will calculate flowgate impacts based on amounts offered in the day-ahead market. The two will also modify settlement procedures to account for market flows and associated M2M congestion payments.

Until now, the RTOs have reflected the costs of relieving a binding flowgate in both their LMPs.

FERC agreed with the RTOs that the proposal “represent[s] an improvement over current practices” and will eliminate most of the overlapping congestion charges.

Separately, the commission also approved PJM’s Phase 2 revisions, which will modify its Tariff to provide for rebates for deviations from day-ahead commitments and remove the remaining overlapping congestion charges not addressed by Phase 1 (ER18-1730).

FERC required MISO to make periodic informational filings on the status of its Phase 2 efforts.

MISO and PJM worked throughout 2017 to remove the overlapping congestion charges soon after the first of several complaints about the issue were filed with FERC. (See MISO, PJM Pursue Pseudo-Tie Double-Charge Relief.)

MISO reports 754 MW pseudo-tying into the footprint and about 2,142 MW pseudo-tying out.

Possible Interregional Projects

Meanwhile, the RTOs are working on two studies that could identify both small-scale and large-scale interregional transmission projects.

MISO and PJM are conducting a two-year coordinated system plan study to identify more expensive seams projects called interregional market efficiency projects (IMEPs) and a shorter-term study to identify smaller targeted market efficiency projects (TMEPs). (See MISO, PJM Plan 2 Studies for Seams Projects.)

The windows for submitting interregional project ideas opens Nov. 1 for PJM and Jan. 1 for MISO. Analysis on the project proposals will take place next year. MISO and PJM have yet to approve an IMEP.

At an Aug. 1 Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee conference call, MISO and PJM staff said they would be ready to share this year’s TMEP study results during the October IPSAC. PJM interregional engineer Alex Worcester said the two are investigating 19 facilities — down from an original 61 — that have each amassed more than $1 million in congestion charges in 2016 and 2017 combined.

“Very soon here, we’ll be reaching out to the equipment owners of the 19 facilities flagged for further study to identify the limiting equipment and what the potential solutions might be,” Worcester said.

In September, MISO and PJM will begin testing the potential upgrades to see if they solve congestion.