Don’t shoot the messenger.

The MISO Independent Market Monitor was looking out for retail electricity consumers when he found the $22B transmission Tranche 2 spend uneconomic, and that local solutions weren’t adequately considered. The board approved it anyway. (See MISO Board Endorses $21.8B Long-range Transmission Plan.)

With a full-blown affordability crisis in utility rates, there is no justification for questionable spending — much less if it primarily benefits other states, some of which have expensive policies that need such transmission. The IMM also found a per-household cost of such spending of $7,500.

There’s something fishy about a new “consumer group” Manifest being formed to challenge this via the five-state complaint discussion. (See Group Raises Questions over MISO IMM Involvement in $22B Tx Plan Complaint.)

An independent market monitor is just that — independent.

He should not be shown the door but should be allowed to continue to do his job and also to talk to state regulators who seek his advice.

Instead, those who put the plan together and approved it without full vetting of local generation and non-wires solutions should be scrutinized. We owe it to the ratepayers.

And we need to see who is really behind this new group.

Bill Malcolm is a former MISO employee. His opinions are his own.