MISO’s $10.3 billion long-range transmission plan (LRTP) inched closer to approval Thursday as some board members advanced the project portfolio to the full board for its consideration later this month.
The Board of Directors’ System Planning Committee voted unanimously during a special conference call to recommend the full board take up the package’s approval in late July.
The first of four LRTP portfolios contains 18 345-kV projects in MISO Midwest. The portfolio is considered an addendum to the RTO’s 2021 Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP).
“The portfolio shift is well underway,” Aubrey Johnson, vice president of system planning and competitive transmission, said during the call. “The future energy mix requires a broad and holistic solution rather than the type of approach we typically use with our annual MTEPs.”
Over the next 20 years, MISO conservatively expects 58 GW of mostly coal and gas resource retirements and about 90 GW of new gas and renewable resources, lowering the footprint’s carbon emissions down 63% from 2005 levels.
Director Nancy Lange asked how long it will take for the projects to become “regulatory realities.” Johnson said it should take about six to 18 months for the lines to gain state regulatory approval.
Johnson said his team will begin to prepare requests for proposals where state rights-of-first-refusal (ROFR) don’t prohibit competitive bidding. In states with ROFR laws, incumbent transmission developers will need to seek construction approval from their respective regulatory bodies.
MISO estimates that just $1 billion of the portfolio will ultimately be open to competition. The grid operator said nearly $4 billion worth of the projects are considered upgrades to existing facilities, while another $5.5 billion worth of projects are in states with ROFR legislation. Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas all have ROFR laws; Wisconsin lawmakers have considered one but haven’t passed it.
Johnson said the RTO will likely manage multiple requests for proposals on the LRTP projects that can be competitively bid. “This will be the largest solicitation we’ve ever done,” he said at an earlier System Planning Committee meeting.
At the same meeting, Senior Vice President of Planning and Operations Jennifer Curran said the projects are based on a two-year-old “haircut” of MISO members’ resource planning. She said the projects are the product of a conservative future view and are crucial for reliability.
MISO’s sectors voted earlier in June to recommend the LRTP portfolio to the board. None of the 11 sectors opposed the transmission buildout; two abstained and the power marketers and end-use customers did not participate in the vote. (See MISO Makes Business Case on Long-range Tx Plan.)
MISO is also preparing for the LRTP’s second phase. The next round of projects will again be in the Midwest, much to some stakeholders’ frustration. It’s not until the third phase that the RTO will turn its attention to MISO South’s needs.
The grid operator will update its three, 20-year planning futures for its second collection of long-range projects. Johnson said a lot has changed since MISO last updated its futures in 2020.
Johnson said should the board approve the first LRTP portfolio, staff will provide “regulatory support” for state regulators on the first set of projects while beginning the hunt for the second portfolio’s projects.
“In many ways, we’re just getting started,” Johnson said.
Curran said MISO planners are expecting to defend the projects in front of state commissions. “We feel comfortable and confident that we’ve put together a strong case,” Curran said.
To shorten construction timelines and ensure simpler regulatory processes, the first LRTP cycle made use of existing rights of way. However, during a June 3 Entergy Regional State Committee Working Group meeting, MISO Senior Director of Transmission Planning Laura Rauch said the RTO isn’t sure it will take a similar approach in the South because there are benefits to “geographic diversity” of transmission lines in hurricane-prone areas.
Andy Kowalczyk, with the 350 New Orleans activist group, said MISO might consider building lines that could serve as alternative pathways to restore power in a post-hurricane blackout.
“How we get load back on is going to be critical,” Rauch agreed.
Rauch said strategically placed transmission can lessen the amount of generation states must build. “Transmission lets you optimize the generation you’re building,” he said.
Texas Public Utility Commission economist Werner Roth said MISO might want to emphasize reliability over economic benefits to better make its cases in front of state commissions.
Rauch said MISO agrees and said playing up economic benefits works because dollars are motivating.
Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association, said though MISO is likely understating economic benefits, stressing the reliability component will likely be the piece that “gets everyone on board” in MISO South.
