CARMEL, Ind. — MISO is seeking to improve how owners of load-modifying resources interact with a key communications system that some market participants think hampered the RTO’s response to a grid emergency this past winter.

Stakeholders have criticized the nonpublic MISO Communications System (MCS) webpage — where LMR owners update their availability — as being difficult to navigate, with some suggesting it hinders clear communication during grid emergencies. The RTO is in the process of upgrading the system to a more updated format.

Speaking at a Resource Adequacy Subcommittee meeting Wednesday, Customized Energy Solutions’ Ted Kuhn said the MCS may have contributed to confusion during the Jan. 30 maximum generation event, for which the RTO issued about $2 million in penalties for LMR underperformance. (See “MISO: $2 Million in Penalties for Jan. 30 LMR Underperformance,” MISO Reliability Subcommittee Briefs: May 2, 2019.)

“There was a lot of misunderstanding about what was going on. There were people that were getting, in my opinion, poor information from the MCS. … Things are not set up the way they should be,” Kuhn said.

In April, Consumers Energy’s Jeff Beattie asked if MISO had considered that it was working on improvements to the MCS at the time of the January emergency before it issued penalties. Beattie said some market participants may have misconstrued the timing of the request for LMRs as being across peak hours instead of just during the emergency.

MISO Director of Resource Adequacy Coordination Laura Rauch said the RTO has reached out to LMR owners to talk about how to improve communication protocols. MISO is also creating additional training classes for owners of LMRs.

The RTO foresees a 70% chance of calling on LMRs this summer. (See MISO Foresees Summer Emergency, LMR Use.)

— Amanda Durish Cook