By Amanda Durish Cook

MISO on Monday updated the competitive solicitation for the Duff-Coleman transmission project in response to stakeholder questions about the 345-kV line proposed for southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.

The changes address the binding cost cap, revenue requirements, planning participation and respondent liability. MISO also added a requirement that bidding developers disclose their project-specific common stock costs and debt-to-equity ratios.

The update — the second since MISO released the RFP in January — comes as MISO fine-tunes Business Practice Manual 027, which outlines transmission developer qualifications and the selection process for competitive projects.

The 30-mile, single-circuit line would connect Vectren Energy’s Duff substation in Dubois County, Ind., with Big Rivers Electric’s Coleman substation in Hancock County, Ky., crossing mostly farmland and a portion of the Ohio River. MISO says the $67 million project will alleviate congestion and strengthen transmission capabilities near a MISO-PJM seam. RTO staff last week told the Planning Advisory Committee that stakeholders have needed clarification that the Rockport segment of the line is not included in the competitive solicitation.

Vectren and Public Service Enterprise Group were the first to step into the ring last week, announcing that they intend to jointly bid on the project.

“Vectren has a proven track record to successfully complete such large-scale transmission projects, having completed a nearly 65-mile 345 kV line in southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky four years ago,” Brad Ellsworth, president of Vectren South, said in a statement.

Bids on the project, MISO’s first competitive solicitation under FERC Order 1000, are due July 6. MISO hopes to announce the winner in late December and put the line in service by 2021. (See MISO Seeks Bids on Duff-Coleman Project.)