By Amanda Durish Cook
Seven of the eight stakeholder-originated project proposals evaluated by MISO and PJM are not expected to pass the RTOs’ benefit threshold.
The sole project left standing is Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s proposed new line section between its Thayer and Morrison 138-kV substations in northwestern Indiana, near the Illinois border. The greenfield project would be in service by 2022 at a $42.5 million cost, RTO stakeholders learned at an Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee (IPSAC) meeting Aug. 18.
MISO would reap the lion’s share of expected benefits at $75 million, while PJM would see $7.3 million in benefits; the costs would be split 91.1% and 8.9%, respectively. Staff said the project will now be evaluated in each regional process based on interregional cost allocation. PJM engineer Alex Worcester said the RTOs still plan to return to an October IPSAC meeting to discuss all eight projects and their final benefit-cost ratios, however dismal.
In May, the RTOs revealed three upgrade and five greenfield proposals from stakeholders, ranging from $1 million to $198 million, for three congested flowgates around the borders of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
Most proposals’ effectiveness was undercut by American Electric Power’s recently announced plans for a supplemental project for the Olive–Bosserman constraint near the western Indiana-Michigan border. AEP plans to remedy the problem by increasing voltage and rerouting nearby PJM circuits dating back to the 1930s with two new 138/120-kV distribution stations. (See MISO, PJM Weighing 8 Interregional Tx Proposals.)
All but two of the project proposals concentrated on the Olive–Bosserman constraint. Another NIPSCO proposal — an $8 million plan to reconductor a NIPSCO line between AEP’s Bosserman and Olive 138-kV substations and reconductor a NIPSCO line between Bosserman and AEP’s New Carlisle 138-kV substation — was found to benefit neither PJM nor MISO after the AEP proposal was factored in.
NIPSCO’s Clark Gloyeske asked if PJM had plans to refund the project submission fees the RTO charged to consider the proposals. “The supplemental came along and wiped out all of these proposals,” he said.
PJM Manager of Interregional Planning Chuck Liebold said it may conduct additional analysis to explore the possibility, but he did not elaborate on an expected timeline.
Meanwhile, MISO engineer Adam Solomon said the RTOs still have five targeted market efficiency projects (TMEPs) at the ready should FERC approve the regional cost allocations for the new category. MISO filed for regional allocation Aug. 4 (ER17-2246), and PJM filed its allocation on April 11 (ER17-1406).
Commission staff tentatively approved the TMEP category in a delegated order in June but said the decision was subject to review by the commission once it regained the quorum it lost in February (ER17-721). (See FERC Tentatively OKs New MISO-PJM Project Type.)
“Pending FERC approval, we are still ready to recommend the five TMEPs that we’ve had on our hands for a while now,” Solomon said.
The RTOs will not conduct a new TMEP study this year. The TMEP process was originally intended to be performed annually, but Solomon said MISO and PJM are still undecided if they will undergo a study even in 2018.
“Closer to the end of the year is when we’d try to make that decision,” Solomon said.
