MISO’s research and development team has been tapped to take part in a Department of Energy project to design faster and more accurate generation dispatch software.

MISO is partnering with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, General Electric’s Grid Solutions and Gurobi Optimization in the $3.1 million, three-year High-Performance Power-Grid Operation (HIPPO) project, which is being funded by the department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

The project seeks to ease grid operators’ optimization challenge — dispatching the cheapest generation to meet loads while maintaining reliability — through algorithms that allow supercomputers to conduct multiple equations simultaneously.

Jeff Bladen, MISO’s executive director of market design, called HIPPO “a more robust approach to [security-constrained unit commitment] platforms that are used on a daily basis.”

“This has become increasingly challenging as the power grid grows in complexity, including the addition of intermittent renewable energy, new regulations and the increased use of natural gas and smart grid technologies,” Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said in a release on the project. “HIPPO could save consumers and power grid operators billions of dollars while also enabling greener and more sustainable grid operations.”

MISO Wants to Know if Data-Gathering Rule Spells Tariff Changes, Audits

MISO officials will be watching closely today as FERC conducts a technical conference on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring RTOs and ISOs to begin registering market participants through common alpha-numeric identifiers (RM15-23).

The NOPR, issued in September, would require market participants in RTOs to report extensive information about themselves and acquire a Legal Entity Identifier. FERC said the rule would aid its enforcement efforts by providing a way for identifying connections between companies and individuals. (See Are You Two Related? FERC Wants to Know.)

“We want to understand what the definition [of connected entities] is so we know what we need to do,” said Dustin Grethen, a credit analyst at MISO.

Grethen said MISO needs to figure out if it will have to replace the Tariff term of “affiliate” with “connected entity” and whether the RTO would be required to audit connected entities based on the information contained in the submission alone. “MISO wouldn’t be in a very good position to determine if [that data] is correct and right,” Grethen said.

Aaron Fate, MISO’s senior corporate counsel, said MISO found the NOPR a “little opaque.”

Stakeholders: Ramp Capability Needs Explanation Before Product Testing

Stakeholders called on MISO to provide more information before beginning testing of the RTO’s new ramp capability product in a month.

MISO expects to receive the software from its vendor this month, then have market participants take part in product testing in mid-January. The RTO is targeting an April 1 “go live” date pending a compliance filing with FERC.

The software is designed to alleviate net load variations by setting aside rampable capacity from the five-minute dispatch interval.

Dhiman Chatterjee, MISO’s senior manager of market analysis, said “more detailed discussion” is needed on whether the software will be programmed for the existing hourly integrated prices or new five-minute dispatch settlements.

MISO’s Kevin Larson said the software will be particularly helpful in managing wind generation.

Discussions on providing both up ramp capability and down ramp capability products began over two years ago, and some stakeholders said the information posted on the topic has grown stale.

“A lot of ramp capability information is from 2013,” observed Amber Metzker, Xcel Energy’s manager of market operations.

Likewise, Travis Stewart, a senior associate with Gabel Associates, asked MISO to update the Q&A document to reflect its most recent information. Jeffery Moore, with Ameren Missouri’s project management team, asked for a workshop to be held on the subject. Larson agreed; at press time, no date had been set for the workshop.

Testing, testing…

MISO is seeking to increase participation in its monthly load modifying resource drills.

Danielle Logsdon, senior project specialist, said the drills, held the second Tuesday of each month, exist to ensure reliability during shortage conditions and that generators know the process for emergency response.

According to MISO, as many as 55 market participants receive drill scheduling instructions every month. Of those, an average of six persistently take no action, even after MISO makes follow-up calls.

“Consistently, it’s the same [market participants] that do not participate,” Logsdon said.

MISO’s Demand Response Working Group asked that the Market Subcommittee take up the issue. Logsdon invited stakeholder suggestions on how to improve participation.

“I think the purpose for this surfacing is we’ve had the same level of non-participation from the same companies. That’s how they want to run their shop,” said DeWayne Todd, chair of the working group. Todd also asked stakeholders for suggestions on how to get non-participants involved in drills.

─ Amanda Durish Cook