MISO has calculated significant increases in its annual cost of new entry (CONE) values for use in its 2024/25 capacity auction.

The average CONE surged to nearly $330/MW-day, ratcheting up from $275/MW-day a year ago and $243/MW-day during the 2022/23 capacity auction. For the first time, all local resource zones surged beyond a $100,000 annual cost to build a single megawatt.

MISO said the increase is “mainly due to significant increases in base project capital costs and the weighted average cost of capital, both reflecting actual and expected inflation estimates.”

The RTO’s CONE represents the cost of building an advanced combustion turbine. It differs by zone to reflect regional differences in construction costs. The values include capital costs, operations and maintenance expenses, property taxes and insurance costs. MISO South typically has lower costs than MISO Midwest.

MISO’s Zone 5 in parts of Missouri carries the highest CONE of the zones, at $131,725/MW-year, and experienced the highest year-over-year increase at $22,145/MW-year. Zone 5 usually has the highest CONE.

Zone 7, covering Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, came in second at $127,135/MW-year.

Mississippi’s Zone 10 holds MISO’s most inexpensive CONE value at $112,263/MW-year. The zone consistently returns the lowest CONEs.

On average, the zones’ CONE values increased by $19,931/MW-year.