MISO has enacted conservative operations orders, a hot weather alert and a capacity advisory for its Midwest region ahead of the season’s first widespread heat wave set to bake much of the U.S. this week.
The grid operator said a combination of hot weather and load forecast uncertainty is forcing a conservative operations declaration Tuesday through Friday for MISO Midwest. The capacity advisory is effective beginning Wednesday “until further notice,” per MISO.
The National Weather Service anticipates dangerous heat that has been simmering in the West, Texas and Florida will expand this week into the eastern two-thirds of the country, starting in the north-central states and Plains.
MISO has asked its generation and transmission owners to consider revoking or deferring maintenance outages. It also has asked generation owners to notify it of any fuel restrictions and environmental limitations of equipment. MISO said members should be prepared to enter maximum generation emergency procedures, which involve calling on load-modifying resources.
Spokesperson Brandon Morris said MISO and members are preparing for the extreme heat, which could drive 2023’s annual peak demand in the footprint.
“The potential for higher-than-normal demand and tight operating conditions could lead to a system peak for the year. MISO issued alerts and advisories in anticipation of the heat wave to provide situational awareness and notify our members’ utilities to prepare in case additional actions are needed to ensure reliability,” Morris said in an emailed statement to RTO Insider. “We are coordinating with our neighboring grid operators who expect similar conditions. Because of our large, diverse footprint, MISO has several options to obtain power and send it to where it is needed.”
Ahead of the season, MISO predicted July would hold its greatest chance of enlisting the help of its load-modifying resources and leaning on neighbors for exports during blistering temperatures. (See MISO: Little Firm Capacity to Spare This Summer.)
MISO last issued conservative operations instructions in late June, when it struck a rough patch of storms and hot temperatures that also spawned capacity advisories and hot weather and severe weather alerts June 22-30. The RTO also issued a hot weather alert July 19-20 for much of its South region.
