The SPP–MISO Joint Planning Committee has voted to begin a new coordinated system plan (CSP) this year, SPP staff told the RTO’s Seams Steering Committee last week.
The JPC, composed of planning staff from both RTOs, conducted the vote in March. The CSP is the first step in determining whether to build transmission projects that address interregional needs.
SPP Interregional Coordinator Adam Bell told the SSC during its Wednesday meeting that the RTOs’ planning staffs are exchanging solutions submitted through their regional processes for the CSP “joint” needs. Staff are also finalizing a draft CSP study scope, he said.
The RTOs have not yet scheduled a meeting to share initial results with stakeholders, but they have identified six potential economic projects along the seam. (See MISO, SPP Seek Coordinated Plan in 2019.)
“We’ve identified modeling inconsistencies, but our models are always going to be different,” Bell said. “Once we posted the needs, that’s when both sides began looking into the models.”
The study could result in a first-ever interregional transmission project for the RTOs, which conducted CSP and regional reviews in 2014 and 2016. They were unable to reach an agreement on interregional projects both times.
Switchable Generation Plan with ERCOT Almost Complete
Staff told the committee that SPP will be executing a coordination agreement with ERCOT for switchable generation resources (SWGRs) shortly. (See “ERCOT, SPP, MISO Hammer out Coordination Plans,” ERCOT Board of Directors Meeting: Feb. 12, 2019.)
The grid operators have been working since 2016 on a new agreement to cover the four resources capable of switching between SPP and ERCOT. The plan applies only to the operations of the reliability coordinators and does not address financial obligations of the SWGRs directed to switch in emergency conditions, RTO staff said.
SPP’s Market Working Group will be responsible for developing new commitment statuses and a mechanism to uplift financial obligations of SWGRs instructed to switch to SPP from ERCOT.
Two of the resources belong to Golden Spread Electric Cooperative and have historically operated in SPP. The other two resources belong to Tenaska and operate in ERCOT.
M2M Payments Soar to $3.33M in February
SPP recorded $3.33 million in market-to-market (M2M) payments from MISO in February, the highest amount since last March and the ninth-highest since the two RTOs began the process in March 2015.
February also marked the 23rd month in the last 29 in which M2M distributions have flowed in SPP’s direction. SPP has now amassed $58.6 million in net payments from MISO.
Permanent flowgates along the SPP-MISO seam were binding for 244 hours, and temporary flowgates were binding for 245 hours. That resulted in $1.98 million and $1.35 million in payments, respectively.
Casey Cathey, the RTO’s manager of reliability planning and seams, told the SSC that staff hope to discuss with MISO potential changes to the M2M process. “My personal view is to optimize the system for congestion, rather than this clunky process,” he said.
— Tom Kleckner
