MISO and PJM are deliberating whether to embark on an interregional transmission study this year as they field more calls from stakeholders to revamp their joint planning framework.
Last month, state regulators and several environmental and consumer advocacy groups called on the RTOs to improve their cross-border transmission planning so it considers reliability, economics and public policy over a longer horizon. (See OMS, OPSI Urge MISO, PJM to Invigorate Interregional Planning and Enviros, Consumer Advocates Join Regulators Urging PJM-MISO Interregional Planning.)
“Certainly, all the feedback we get is considered,” Jarred Miland, MISO senior manager of system planning coordination, said during a meeting of the RTOs’ Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee (IPSAC) on March 25. “Interregional planning is important to MISO and PJM. … MISO and PJM have been in joint, active discussions regarding the feedback.”
Miland promised “more to come” on the interregional planning front.
The RTOs have 45 days following the IPSAC meeting to determine the need for a Coordinated System Plan study, which may produce interregional projects. The Joint Planning Committee, composed of MISO and PJM staff, makes the final call on whether an interregional study is warranted.
MISO and PJM delayed their March IPSAC teleconference by about a month after the calls for more thorough and proactive interregional planning.
Iowa Utilities Board Member and newly minted Organization of MISO States (OMS) President Josh Byrnes has characterized the joint letter from OMS and the Organization of PJM States Inc. (OPSI) as a “polite nudge” to get the ball rolling on substantial interregional planning.
PJM’s Jeff Goldberg said the RTOs are currently reviewing interregional congestion issues that could be the focus of either a targeted market efficiency project study or a more intensive interregional market efficiency project study.
Planners opened the IPSAC meeting by emphasizing their separate, ongoing regional planning efforts. Representatives of both RTOs spoke about their respective plan for long-range regional planning.
Miland said MISO is coordinating with PJM on some of its recently unveiled second portfolio of long-range transmission plan (LRTP) projects, some of which cut across PJM’s ComEd territory. Miland said that although some lines will cross into the PJM system, the LRTP lines will be considered regional.
However, multiple stakeholders continued to press for better interregional solutions at the seams.
Michigan Public Service Commission Chair Dan Scripps reminded the RTOs that regulators, who review projects for affordability on cost containment on behalf of customers, are asking for new infrastructure.
“‘Our regional grids are undergoing significant changes that merit consideration of joint planning activities,” Scripps said, quoting a letter from OMS and OPSI sent in February.
Scripps said national studies and increasingly severe weather show “major opportunities for interregional progress.” He said MISO and PJM can use their existing long-term transmission planning processes to holistically plan interregional facilities.
WEC Energy Group’s Chris Plante said he worried that MISO and PJM may miss an opportunity to show they are taking FERC’s potential rule on minimum interregional transfer capability seriously.
MISO Director of Economic and Policy Planning Christina Drake assured stakeholders that the RTOs “are taking this very seriously.” However, she said the two “don’t have anything concrete to release” in terms of a timeline for responding to calls for a reworked interregional process.
RMI’s Claire Wayner said MISO and PJM could have a more comprehensive planning process that considers reliability, public policy and congestion-relieving benefits. She said it is unsurprising that the RTOs’ process, with its limitations on who can propose a project when and for what purpose, hasn’t produced needed transmission projects.
“As a former state regulator, I feel like we are witnessing a remarkable moment, where you’re seeing a confluence of forces who want … MISO-PJM interregional lines,” the Sustainable FERC Project’s Lauren Azar said. She advised MISO and PJM to get a jump on interregional planning so that by the time more severe weather strikes the regions, they are not perceived as inattentive.
Grid Strategies Vice President Michael Goggin appeared before the IPSAC to reiterate the value of more interregional capacity. He used his 2023 report showing that expanded interregional transmission between the RTOs could offer more than $1 billion in annual energy market savings, as they often experience peak demand at different times. MISO and PJM experienced $1.7 billion in congestion in 2021-2022, he said. (See New Report Finds MISO, PJM Could Save Billions Through Interregional Tx Expansion.)
“These are sizable quantities of market congestions that are causing real costs to customers,” he said. “As a nation, we are failing at building interregional transmission.”
Goggin called for “proactive, multivalue” interregional transmission planning. For that to happen, PJM must move on from its siloed transmission planning that considers benefits individually, he said.
