By Amanda Durish Cook
It’s been 15 years since FERC approved MISO as an RTO and, like a teenager, MISO is experiencing a growth spurt.
Last month, the board approved an annual Transmission Expansion Plan consisting of 345 projects valued at $2.75 billion. With the exception of 2011, the plan represents the footprint’s largest expansion since the annual process began in 2003.
This year’s spending plan includes a $31 million capital budget and a $225 million operating budget, a 3% increase over 2015.
Busy Year Ahead
MISO expects a busy 2016.
In January, it will begin selecting a developer for its first competitively bid transmission project under FERC Order 1000, southern Indiana’s Duff-Coleman 345-kV project.
In February, design review will begin on MISO’s proposed two-season capacity market construct. Under a draft proposal, the RTO would obtain capacity based on a June-September summer season and an October-May winter, with separate seasonal resource accreditations, reserve margins and capacity import/export limits. (See MISO Proposes Two-Season Capacity Market.) FERC filings are expected in March.
MISO capacity auctions still won’t be mandatory, as FERC struck down the RTO’s request for compulsory capacity auction participation in November.
Resource adequacy will continue its presence on MISO agendas in 2016. In the first six months, the RTO will consider recommendations from a task team appointed by its Supply Adequacy Working Group on how to accommodate merchant generators in Illinois’ Zone 4, where retail choice is permitted. The move followed an October FERC technical conference and two policy sessions of the Illinois Commerce Commission on problems in the area.
“I think what’s been identified in Illinois is a gap,” Jeff Bladen, MISO’s executive director of market design, said in early December. “It is a very targeted, surgical matter that needs to be tackled.” (See Stakeholders to ICC: MISO Resource Adequacy Fine — for now.)
MISO also will continue its modeling of the potential impacts of the Clean Power Plan. According to initial results released last month, compliance costs could vary widely in the footprint, with the price of natural gas a major variable. (See MISO: Coal Retirements, Gas Prices, Flexibility Key to CPP Compliance Costs.)
MISO’s new interconnection queue rules will begin Feb. 20. Following a transition, projects will move through a reformed queue that includes a non-refundable $5,000 study deposit and two “off-ramps” where owners can choose to withdraw projects for a refund. (See MISO Unveils Queue Reform Transition as Wind Advocates Seek Delay.)
SPP Dispute Settled
In October, MISO settled a grid-use dispute with neighboring SPP regarding the 1,000-MW transfer limit in their joint operating agreement. The settlement replaced the RTOs’ operations reliability coordination agreement and the resulting $9.57/MWh hurdle rate that had been in place since 2014. (See SPP, MISO Reach Deal to End Transmission Dispute.)
Late 2015 also saw the adoption of a new stakeholder redesign. The changes, which include closing out completed task forces, merging redundant groups, emphasizing joint meetings and re-evaluating meeting schedules, will take effect over the next three months. (See MISO Stakeholders OK Redesign, Begin Implementation.)
The redesign absorbed or consolidated seven groups. The RTO’s Advisory and Steering Committees will oversee the transition.
Michelle Bloodworth, executive director of external affairs, said the redesign was “a great step to making sure stakeholders are well positioned to address the big challenges our region faces.”
Meanwhile, a mild winter so far has made it easy to live with MISO’s October decision to delay raising its energy offer cap. Instead, the RTO asked FERC to approve another waiver allowing recovery of generators’ costs above $1,000/MWh through uplift payments. MISO says it plans to put together a “permanent solution” in time for next winter. (See MISO: No Change to Energy Offer Cap this Winter.)
