By Amanda Durish Cook

MISO’s 2019 Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP 19) will advance to the Board of Directors without any recommended changes tacked on by the RTO’s Planning Advisory Committee.

The plan cleared the committee’s October email vote with six sectors in favor, none opposed and three abstentions. The PAC’s vote is only considered advisory.

The $3.97 billion, 479-project plan now moves to the board’s System Planning Committee for a comprehensive review Friday. The full board will vote whether to approve it at its Dec. 10 meeting as part of MISO Board Week in Indianapolis.

The PAC proposed no changes to the expansion plan, with a pair of motions to convert the Helena-to-Hampton Corners project into a market efficiency project and to delay MISO’s first storage-as-transmission project for more analysis both failing in the same email vote. (See Changes Proposed for MTEP 19 as PAC Vote Nears.)

MTEP 20 Gains Unique Study

At the same meeting, MISO proposed to conduct a special North Region operational limitation impact study for MTEP 20 in addition to the usual slate of planning studies.

Project Manager Sandy Boegeman said the study, added at stakeholders’ behest, will analyze the Minnesota-Wisconsin transfer limitation, known as MWEX.

“Due to the voltage stability nature of this constraint and its location between high renewable penetration areas and customers in the eastern areas of MISO, it presents a valuable opportunity to better understand the implication of a non-thermal constraint within the MISO footprint,” the RTO said.

“This study got a fair amount of support from stakeholders. And we think we have the bandwidth to do this,” MISO Director of Planning Jeff Webb said. The RTO will discuss the scope and objectives of the study at the PAC early next year, he said.

MISO promised unique, targeted studies to identify possible transmission projects in lieu of a fresh set of planning futures for MTEP 2020. (See “Special MTEP 20 Studies,” Changes Proposed for MTEP 19 as PAC Vote Nears.)

Even with MTEP 19 not yet finalized, MISO is already expediting a substation expansion for MTEP 20. Michigan Electric Transmission Co. is planning to expand its Riverview substation to accommodate new load requested by Consumers Energy near the city of Kalamazoo, Mich. The RTO said the 18-month project deserved fast-track status to avoid overloads. It will add the substation expansion to the Appendix A list of projects in MTEP 20.