MISO is collecting a final round of stakeholder feedback before making a compliance filing under FERC Order 2222’s directive requiring RTOs to open their wholesale markets to aggregations of distributed energy resources.

Stakeholders had until Monday to submit written comments. The compliance filing is due April 18.

MISO will lean on its electric storage participation plan for DER aggregations, limiting them to a single pricing node. The aggregations must self-commit in the RTO’s markets based on their own forecasts.

The grid operator last month set a 2030 completion date for DER aggregation’s participation in its wholesale markets. MISO envisions registration being available in late 2029, with participation in energy and ancillary service markets offered by the end of 2030’s first quarter. (See MISO: DER Aggregations Must Wait Until 2030 for Market Participation.)

Stakeholders have told MISO that eight years is too slow to comply with the order. Some of them have pointed out that substantial DER adoption could happen between now and 2030.

During a March 10 Market Subcommittee meeting, Deputy General Counsel Tim Caister said MISO must “get anchors in” before it’s ready for Order 2222 compliance. He said it’s not simply a matter of plugging DER participation into MISO’s new market platform, but that registration and settlement systems need to be overhauled as well.

Staff and stakeholders have extended the DER task force until July 2023 to discuss post-compliance filing issues and provide MISO guidance on other DER issues. The grid operator has long said that Order 2222 compliance will not be the only market offering for DERs.   

Task force lead Tricia DeBleeckere, a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission staffer, said upcoming meetings will probably become more stakeholder led. She said like the Order 2222 edict, MISO facilitates DER technologies, but members are the driving force behind their participation.