By Amanda Durish Cook

CARMEL, Ind. — MISO has taken another shot at explaining how behind-the-meter generation will function in its markets, this time focusing on how those resources can participate in the upcoming capacity auction.

BTM generators identifying as load-modifying resources will be able to demonstrate deliverability for excess capacity in the 2017/18 Planning Resource Auction by meeting with staff for a case-by-case review, John Harmon, MISO manager of resource adequacy, said during a Feb. 8 Resource Adequacy Subcommittee meeting.

“We’re going to need to talk with folks and work with them to determine [if] they have excess capacity and how do they go about demonstrating deliverability of power,” Harmon said.

American Electric Power’s Kent Feliks asked if staff had any idea how many reviews it might conduct and what they might entail. “It seems a little black box-esque,” he said, adding that in some zones, a small amount of additional megawatts could impact clearing prices.

Harmon declined to comment on the scope or scale of the reviews, but he did say staff would review a generator’s proof of deliverability of any excess capacity to determine an “interconnection service equivalency.” If cleared, generators could then acquire transmission service for delivery.

For future planning years, MISO will require BTM generators to enter the interconnection queue and attain network resource interconnection service before entering the auction, Harmon said. The RTO will also schedule a discussion on possible “alternative deliverability” methods for BTM generation during May’s RASC meeting.

Last month’s educational workshop on BTM generation definitions raised questions about excess capacity deliverability and how generators could register in MISO’s Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS), the first step in procuring transmission service. (See MISO Behind-the-Meter Generation Definitions Create Confusion.) The RTO allows BTM generation to register as a capacity or load-modifying resource to participate in the auction.

Harmon said BTM generators could be included in OASIS by adding their commercial pricing nodes to the system. Generators would have to take the extra step of contacting MISO to submit their existing nodes, he said.

Customized Energy Solutions’ David Sapper asked if BTM generators would be guaranteed a reservation after contacting MISO. Harmon replied that they would enter MISO’s system impact studies like any other generator entering OASIS.

Sapper also asked if MISO would let BTM generators create new commercial pricing nodes for OASIS recognition, claiming some generators might encounter a snag if they could not. MISO staff rejected that idea.