By Chris O’Malley

CARMEL, Ind. — MISO has declined a request by the Public Consumer Advocates sector for $200,000 to help cover its legal costs in a fight over MISO transmission owners’ return on equity.

The decision was announced Wednesday at the MISO Advisory Committee.

“We don’t have a mechanism to send them money,” said MISO General Counsel Stephen Kozey, adding there was no show of stakeholder support for such funding.

The Public Consumer Advocates sector consists of both non-profit groups and government agencies that represent consumers in utility cases before state regulators.

It decided to enter the ROE battle after settlement talks ordered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission between industrial customers and TOs broke down last year. It is the consumer sector’s first-ever litigation in a FERC case.

The consumer sector made the request at the Advisory Committee in February, saying it lacks the deep pockets for legal costs.

Robert Mork, deputy consumer counselor for the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, said the Consumer Advocates sector has been supportive of MISO over the years. “We have to say we’re surprised and disappointed by MISO’s decision on this,” Mork said.

He reminded the committee that FERC Order 719 was created in part to improve the responsiveness of RTOs to electric consumers.

Mork didn’t elaborate on the group’s response to the funding denial but said that the consumer sector would have further discussions with MISO, the Organization of MISO States and with FERC.

MISO industrial customers initiated the ROE dispute last year, contending that transmission operators’ current base ROE — 12.38% except for American Transmission Co., at 12.2% — is too high (EL14-12). On April 3, the consumer advocates asked FERC for approval to amend the group’s intervention by adding allies from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana and Illinois. (See MISO TOs Seek Base ROE of 11.39%.)