CARMEL, Ind. — MISO will seek a series of waivers in order to implement wintertime energy offer caps after FERC rejected the grid operator’s proposed cap design, RTO officials said.

Staff signaled the move a week after the rejection of MISO’s Order 831 compliance filing, which the commission said wrongly prohibited resources from submitting cost-based offers above the $2,000/MWh hard cap. (See MISO’s Plans for Wintertime Offer Caps Stalled by FERC.)

For the past three winters, FERC has granted the RTO a waiver of its $1,000/MWh offer cap. During a Nov. 14 Informational Forum, MISO Senior Director of Systemwide Operations Rob Benbow confirmed the RTO will seek a similar course this winter. (See MISO Granted Winter Waiver on Offer Cap.)

The waiver would allow resources to recover verifiable incremental energy costs higher than MISO’s existing $1,000/MWh offer cap for the season. That practice was prompted by a 2014 extreme cold snap that sent fuel costs soaring and saw some MISO generators offering at the $1,000/MWh cap, indicating they may have incurred costs in excess of the cap.

Benbow did not disclose what MISO is contemplating to revise its initial Order 831 proposal or when the RTO will attempt another filing. In turning down the plan, FERC said MISO did not describe what factors would be considered when verifying cost-based offers or distributing uplift and was silent on its treatment of external supply offers in excess of the cap.

“Right now, we’re reviewing this order,” Benbow said.  “In the meantime, we have a temporary waiver to put in place…That waiver is being worked on right now, and we’ll get that out shortly.”

— Amanda Durish Cook