By Tom Kleckner

SPP’s interregional relations staff on Wednesday shared with the Seams Steering Committee their strategic vision for seams efforts through 2021.

The vision is heavy on improving transmission planning across the seams and offering reliability coordination services in the Western Interconnection. Staff referred to the seams strategy as a “living, breathing document” that will eventually be posted on the committee’s website.

The goals include implementing improvements to the SPP-MISO Coordinated System Plan by the end of the first quarter, a process that will begin with a Jan. 31 meeting between RTO staffs and stakeholders.

SPP and MISO have revised their joint operating agreement’s planning criteria in the hopes of agreeing on a first interregional project between the two. Legal staff are currently drafting language for a FERC filing. (See MISO, SPP Tweak Interregional Criteria.)

The RTOs also plan to begin a new study this year, using the new criteria.

Other strategic goals include:

• Implementing agreements between the SPP RC in the West and neighboring RCs;
• Developing RC coordination agreements with neighboring western RCs;
• Devising a cost-allocation Tariff mechanism for seams projects not driven by FERC Order 1000; and
• Defining the coordination of grid-switchable resources with ERCOT during emergency conditions.

Clint Savoy, the RTO’s senior interregional coordinator, told the SSC that staff have begun reaching out to neighbors to evaluate the potential value and benefits of sharing operating reserve responsibilities with other balancing authorities.

The committee also welcomed ITC Holdings’ David Mindham and Corn Belt Power Cooperative’s Kevin Bornhoft as new members.

November M2M Payments Flow SPP’s Way

The MISO-SPP market-to-market (M2M) process resulted in more than $148,000 in SPP’s favor in November, the fourth straight month incurred payments have failed to reach $1 million.

Permanent flowgates accounted for the financial difference, binding for 53 hours. Temporary flowgates were binding for 592 hours but resulted in a $60.11 amount due to MISO.

SPP has amassed $51.8 million in distributions since the RTOs began the M2M process in March 2015, with payments flowing in its direction 21 of the last 26 months.