MISO’s Planning Advisory Committee has voted to advance the 2021 MISO Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP 21) to the RTO’s directors.
The committee’s sectors voted by email through late September. Seven of the 10 sectors voted in support of the transmission package, with the End-Use, Public Consumers and State Regulatory sectors abstained.
The Board of Directors’ System Planning Committee will consider MTEP 21 during an Oct. 25 teleconference before it goes before the full board on Dec. 9.
MTEP 21 includes 339 new projects worth $3.04 billion, a drop from 367 projects totaling almost $3.25 reported by MISO during its September Board Week. This year’s package is also significantly smaller than MTEP 20’s final $4.05 billion spend on 493 projects.
Broken down, substation work accounts for 38% of MTEP 21’s investment, line upgrades take a 36% share, and new lines account for 14%. Remaining costs are spread over transformer work, voltage devices and miscellaneous investments.
“This is very typical for the last couple of cycles,” project manager Sandy Boegeman said.
The package’s most expensive project is an $86-million rebuild of a line in southern Louisiana rated at just 115 kV. The second most expensive is a $71-million new 161-kV line and breaker stations in southern Iowa. Both projects are needed for reliability reasons.
The next eight most expensive projects range from $43 million to $33 million.
Energy consultant Kavita Maini noted that members have an incomplete picture of total MTEP spending because MISO is waiting until early next year to propose higher-voltage, long-range transmission projects that will be added after the fact. (See MISO Targets March Approval for Long-term Tx Projects.)
However, some stakeholders, primarily those from MISO South, have been casting doubt on the need for billions of dollars in long-term transmission projects. (See Tensions Boil over MISO South Attitudes on Long-range Transmission Planning.)
“Right now, we don’t know the MTEP 2021 total cost,” Maini said.
Boegeman said MISO will post an addendum to the MTEP 2021 report when long-range projects are finalized by next March.
Scott Goodwin, an expansion planning engineer, said with MTEP 21 winding down, MISO planners have shifted focus to MTEP 22.
During a Tuesday Planning Subcommittee teleconference, Goodwin said MISO’s expansion planners have already completed an initial review of transmission owners’ MTEP 22 project proposals. MISO will begin holding subregional planning meetings for the portfolio’s projects in January.
