SPP staff last week told the Seams Steering Committee that they have begun “very preliminary” interregional planning discussions with Canadian electric utility SaskPower.

Clint Savoy, the committee’s staff secretary, said a provision in the RTO’s joint operating agreement with SaskPower allows joint planning analysis and coordinated system planning. The discussions center on reliability needs, he said.

SPP and SaskPower share a direct tie through Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s existing transmission facilities in North Dakota. The grid operator completed its first international transaction in December 2015 when it imported power from SaskPower during an emergency situation. (See SPP, SaskPower Make First International Trade.)

In February 2017, the Department of Energy granted SPP’s request to make electricity exports to Canada. The RTO told the department that it wanted to “address emergency assistance transactions” but that it doesn’t normally purchase from or sell to “such external entities.”

The authorization expires on Feb. 7, 2022.

FERC in 2016 approved SPP’s request to recognize the U.S.-Canadian border as a point of sale for transactions with Canadian transmission providers. The ruling allows Canadian companies to register their resources with and make them available to the RTO under its market rules. (See “FERC OKs Canadian Border Point-of-Sale Filing,” SPP Briefs.)

Pseudo-tie Revisions to SPP-MISO JOA

The SSC reviewed and made changes to a new pseudo-tie section of SPP’s joint operating agreement with MISO, addressing its neighbors’ continued deferral of dispatch decisions to its balancing authorities.

MISO has historically deferred to local BAs in making pseudo-tie decisions in the real-time transfer of a resource or load from its “native” BA to an “attaining” BA in a different location.

“There are some local balancing authorities taking the position that we’re not a BA, so we’re not going to execute it anymore,” Savoy said. “We thought it would be helpful to address this in the JOA and avoid those situations in the future.”

Savoy said staff have taken FERC-approved language from the MISO-PJM JOA as a starting point. SPP hopes to file the changes with FERC early next year.

M2M Settlements Swing in MISO’s Favor

Staff’s regular market-to-market (M2M) report indicated another slow month, with 41 permanent and temporary flowgates binding for a total of 664 hours and resulting in a $197,320 settlement in MISO’s favor.

August’s numbers dropped to $64.1 million in SPP’s favor. The two seams neighbors began the process in March 2015. SPP has seen positive settlements in 40 of 54 months through August.

— Tom Kleckner