CARMEL, Ind. — MISO has come up with one possible fix on how it could more easily access its resource stack outside of emergencies: prohibiting some resources from using an emergency commitment status.
The tightened ruleset is poised to affect units that have been designated to meet the grid operator’s resource adequacy requirements (RAR). Currently, such resources can use an emergency commitment status in the energy markets, making their entire output unavailable unless there’s a generation emergency. The emergency commitments don’t affect the resources’ capacity credits.
MISO says wider access to its capacity is crucial to “ensure reliable and efficient market outcomes.”
The RTO’s Dustin Grethen said during a Resource Adequacy Subcommittee Wednesday that restricting those units from making emergency-only offers could make a noticeable difference in the footprint’s resource adequacy.
Some stakeholders asked that MISO not altogether prohibit RAR resources from making emergency offers, especially for the top-end, emergency range of their output.
“We thought this should affect their accreditation instead of them just not being able to do it,” MISO Independent Market Monitor Michael Chiasson said of RAR units’ emergency-only statuses.
Customized Energy Solutions’ David Sapper said MISO’s proposal was “draconian.”
“It does seem to me there’s a difference between a resource that’s in an emergency commit status for two days versus one that’s in for two months,” WEC Energy Group’s Chris Plante said, noting that he was not communicating his company’s position.
Some stakeholders also pointed out that state emission regulations dictate that some generators only run in emergency situations.
MISO has spent several years searching for solutions that will improve its resource availability, which it says has been steadily worsening. It says it needs a clearer picture of what capacity is accessible to it and when.
The RTO’s Reliability Subcommittee plans to discuss and finalize the proposal in the second quarter.
