MISO has received FERC approval to increase its non-refundable interconnection request application fee, required for generation developers to enter the queue.
As of Tuesday, MISO can raise the circa-2008, $5,000 application fee to catch up with 15 years of inflation and can continue to increase it into the future to keep pace with inflation (ER23-2742).
MISO interconnection customers pay the nonrefundable application fee alongside each new request for interconnection service. The fee covers MISO’s costs to review interconnection requests, perform studies and facilitate negotiations for generator interconnection agreements.
MISO will use its original 2008 fee as a starting point and increase it every three years, commensurate with its value in today’s dollars using the inflation calculator from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The RTO said it wanted to be able to consistently raise fees and avoid multiple future FERC filings seeking permission.
FERC said it’s reasonable for MISO to “account for inflation on a consistent schedule and ensure that sufficient study deposit funds are available to cover all necessary expenses.
“This should contribute to more efficient processing of MISO’s interconnection queue, which will minimize opportunities for undue discrimination and expedite the development of new generation, while protecting reliability and ensuring that rates are just and reasonable,” FERC wrote.
MISO said for the past 15 years, the application fee has stayed static while its costs to process interconnection requests have increased.
MISO’s second, refundable study deposit will remain an escalating amount based on megawatt size of the proposed generation project. That deposit ranges from $50,000 for an up-to-6-MW project and up to $640,000 for a 1-GW or greater project.
MISO’s request for inflation-based fee adjustments is separate from its package of more strict entry and exit rules to relieve pressure on its overcrowded interconnection queue. (See MISO Relaxes Proposal on Stricter Queue Ruleset.)
MISO will split its suite of stiffer interconnection rules into two filings at FERC. One tackles proposals for tighter land requirements, an automatic penalty schedule for withdrawn projects and increases to the milestone payments MISO collects from interconnection customers as projects move through the queue.
The other proposes an annual megawatt cap on project submissions according to a feasibility formula. MISO has said there are only so many potential generation projects it can simultaneously consider and still produce accurate interconnection studies.
