MISO is working to coordinate its generator retirement studies with PJM without changing the RTOs’ Tariffs.
“We’re not going to overhaul the individual Tariffs,” Neil Shah, MISO advisor of seams administration, said during an Aug. 16 meeting of the Planning Subcommittee. “The coordination will align to the extent possible with the Tariffs. We don’t see the need to change anything in the Tariff requirements just yet.”
FERC ordered that MISO coordinate its generator retirement studies with PJM in response to a complaint by Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (EL13-88). (See “MISO Outlines Work Plan for PJM Retirement Coordination,” MISO Planning Subcommittee Briefs.)
Shah said MISO will continue to exchange retirement notification and study information with PJM. “We’ve been doing that before the FERC order came out, so there’s nothing new there,” he said.
MISO is proposing to consult with PJM on how it uses its 30-day window to study generators seeking deactivation for adverse reliability impacts so MISO can consider incorporating those methods in its own reliability impact studies. MISO also wants to exchange study models with PJM as they are updated.
Shah also said MISO plans to use the Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee to discuss impacts to the RTOs and analyze upgrades proposed in place of the retiring generator.
Shah said MISO’s suggested approach allows for RTOs to conduct their own studies “with inputs and common assumptions of adjacent system conditions.”
He said MISO will comb through the RTOs’ joint operating agreement to see if any language needs to be revised to include the proposed coordination. MISO is asking for stakeholder feedback on its proposal by Sept. 7 to shape the draft JOA language. Before then, stakeholders will offer opinions on the JOA language at a Nov. 15 Joint Common Meeting. A final filing in the NIPSCO order is due Dec. 15.
Shah said a key difference between the RTOs’ retirement obligations is that PJM cannot force a resource owner to stay online, while MISO can order system support resource agreements.
The RTOs’ retirement timelines are also mismatched. PJM requires 90 days’ notice before retirement while MISO requires twice as long.
Shah also noted that MISO keeps retirement information confidential unless there’s a need for SSR designation while PJM announces retirement notifications.
“That’s not as much of a concern,” Shah said of addressing the confidentiality issue.
Possible MISO-PJM Joint Model in Works
In the NIPSCO ruling, FERC also ordered MISO to explore the potential for a joint regional model with PJM with the same assumptions and criteria to coordinate the two regional transmission planning processes.
MISO started the process at last week’s subcommittee meeting by asking stakeholders to envision what a MISO-PJM joint model would look like.
MISO engineer Adam Solomon said it is possible to model power flow and economic models that contain both MISO and PJM assumptions. However, Solomon said MISO is opposed to creating common assumptions such as production cost models.
“Our approaches are so different that it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
An informational filing on a possible joint model is due Oct. 18. Solomon said MISO isn’t certain of the action it would have to take after that.
“If [FERC] likes our answer, they might require us to incorporate some of the things into our joint operating agreement, but for now, it’s just informational,” he said.
MISO Releases Minimum Requirements for Competitive Tx Projects
MISO released the first revision of Business Practices Manual 029, which governs requirements for competitive transmission projects.
MISO principal adviser Matt Tackett said the Minimum Design Requirements Task Team added minimum normal rating requirements that borrow from current minimum emergency ratings. Tackett also said the manual includes a default table for minimum transmission circuit ampere ratings.
“The biggest trick was coming up with a default table based on typical percentages,” Tackett said.
MISO has also developed what it calls adequacy validation ratings to verify that the circuit conductors specified by developers provide adequate load capacity.
The ratings factor in wind speeds along with ambient temperatures. MISO North assumes an ambient temperature of 35 degrees Celsius in the summer and 0 degrees in the winter; all other MISO regions will use 40 degrees Celsius in the summer and 10 degrees in the winter.
Tackett said BPM 029 will undergo more refinements based on stakeholder feedback before another presentation at the October PSC. It is set to become effective in January.
Meanwhile, Tackett said BPM 020, which guides use of non-transmission alternatives and describes how storage can qualify for interconnection, needs another monthlong round of vetting in the subcommittee before final language is reviewed before the Planning Advisory Committee.
Transfer Limits Range from 1,400 to 4,500 MW in MTEP16 Analysis
MISO senior engineer Scott Goodwin announced preliminary linear thermal limits for MISO’s 2016 Transmission Expansion Plan transfer analysis:
- MISO North to SPP has a transfer limit of 3,600 MW;
- Two paths from Manitoba Hydro to MISO North have limits of 1,400 MW or greater;
- MISO North to PJM Ohio has a limit of 4,000 MW;
- Limits from Missouri and Illinois to PJM Ohio range from 2,800 to 3,600 MW depending on different contingencies;
- SPP to Southern Co.’s territory has a limit of 4,100 to 4,500 MW depending on different contingencies; and
- MISO South to SPP has a limit of 1,800 MW.
Goodwin said the transfer limit results will be finalized by the middle of September and MISO will report final numbers in October.
— Amanda Durish Cook
