SPP and MISO will hold a conference call Aug. 19 to discuss their interregional process and joint projects — of which there are currently none.

The RTOs’ staffs have already shared potential interregional solutions in their coordinated system plan study, having shortlisted seven projects, none of which have met the 5% minimum benefit threshold for each grid operator.

“But that’s not indicative that the process is flawed,” Adam Bell, the RTO’s interregional coordinator, told the Seams Steering Committee on Wednesday. “We would have ended up in the same place where we are now [with the previous process], after months and months of work to build the joint model.”

SPP and MISO have replaced the cumbersome joint model process by instead using their regional processes. Their inability to agree on a single joint project in three attempts has drawn increasing attention from state regulators in their areas. (See MISO-SPP Interregional Process Scrutinized at MARC.)

Bell said Monday’s Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee call with MISO will not be without its benefits.

“We’ll have a discussion with MISO in the room about where it makes sense to go from here,” he said.

MISO Earns Positive M2M Settlement

Staff’s market-to-market (M2M) settlement report for June indicated MISO incurred nearly $2.4 million in payments from SPP, the ISO’s first positive month since last October.

M2M payments typically flow in MISO’s favor during the summer months. Still, SPP has racked up $63.7 million in distributions since the two seams neighbors began the process in March 2015.

Temporary flowgates accounted for most of the M2M settlements, binding for 675 hours. That resulted in $2.3 million in settlements from SPP to MISO.

— Tom Kleckner