SPP staff called FERC’s acceptance last week of SPP’s regional cost allocation methodology for Order 1000 interregional projects a “fantastic order” that sets the stage for a redrafting of its previously rejected non-Order 1000 proposal.

In separate orders, the commission on Feb. 2 approved SPP’s use of its highway/byway methodology in allocating Order 1000 interregional costs with MISO and the Southeastern Regional Transmission Planning (SERTP) process. The orders accepted compliance filings revising the RTO’s joint operating agreement with MISO (ER13-1937) and its processes with SERTP (ER13-1939).

“The good thing is, it gives us a little clarity,” SPP attorney Erin Cullum told the Seams Steering Committee Feb. 3. “It does at least let us know this type of cost allocation is just and reasonable for interregional projects.”

Brett Hooton, SPP’s senior interregional coordinator, said the rulings mean Order 1000 interregional projects will be regionally allocated using the highway methodology process for any voltage level greater than 100 kV.

The RTO’s rules for projects within SPP designate transmission facilities of 300 kV or above as “highway” facilities whose costs are allocated entirely on a region-wide, postage stamp basis. Facilities between 100 kV and 300 kV are “byway” facilities, with two-thirds of the costs assigned to the host zone and one-third allocated region-wide. Projects below 100 kV are allocated entirely to the host zone.

SPP’s proposal to create a new class of seams projects for non-Order 1000 projects was rejected by FERC on Nov. 30 as being too vague. (See FERC Rejects SPP Proposal for Seams Transmission Projects.)

Staff’s Tariff revisions defined a non-Order 1000 seams project as one operating at 100 kV or above and costing at least $5 million. They proposed a default regional cost allocation for such projects.

“We had many questions when we got that order,” Cullum said, referencing the non-Order 1000 seams projects. “This lets us know what is just and reasonable as we go forward with non-order 1000 seams projects filing. It puts us in position to have a better conversation with FERC.”

“Having the order … helps us out quite a bit. We will have a frank discussion with FERC staff,” said SPP’s Sam Loudenslager, who is managing the non-Order 1000 seams docket.

SPP has to make an additional compliance filing on each order within 30 days. “They will both be fairly minimal and for the most part have been prescribed in detail by FERC,” Hooton said.

SPP Nears JOA with SaskPower

SPP is close to formalizing a JOA with Saskatchewan Power, the principal electric utility in Saskatchewan, Canada, months after the two completed the RTO’s first international transaction.

Hooton said the RTO hopes to have a completed JOA “in a week or so.” He said SPP’s agreement with SaskPower will be different than its JOAs with other seams neighbors, primarily because SaskPower is a planning region and a vertically integrated utility.

Once the JOA is filed, both parties will have to obtain certificates from their respective national energy departments in order to export power to each other.

In mid-December, SaskPower was able to “facilitate power” during an emergency situation in North Dakota, using its existing interconnections in the state. (See SPP, SaskPower Make First International Trade.)

The JOA will coordinate data exchange, planning, scheduling and “other aspects of transmission operations and planning in accordance with applicable NERC reliability standards, industry standards and good utility practices.” SPP and SaskPower will establish operating and planning committees to administer the agreement’s actions.

SPP, MISO Planning for Joint Stakeholder Meetings

SPP, MISO and their stakeholders will gather at SPP’s Little Rock, Ark., headquarters for a pair of meetings March 8-9 on seams issues and potential interregional projects.

The two RTOs will first conduct a JOA joint stakeholder meeting to discuss market-to-market and other issues. The RTOs are drafting a memorandum of understanding describing “guiding principles” to improve the M2M process and reduce congestion costs along their seams. (See SPP, MISO Working on M2M Improvements.)

Hooton told the committee the meeting “is the only opportunity we have to gain input from our stakeholders on the principles.”

The RTOs’ Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee will then gather March 9, giving stakeholders an opportunity to provide their input on whether a joint study is needed over the next 18 months and to suggest issues to study. Members are welcome to submit “anything that doesn’t have a potential solution” already identified, Hooton said.

The SPP-MISO JOA calls for an “issues” meeting in those years when a joint study is not being undertaken. A planning committee comprising SPP’s David Kelley and MISO’s Eric Thomas will then decide whether an interregional study is needed. The 2015 joint study failed to reach agreement on interregional projects.

SPP staff said a joint study will be conducted this year with Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., a group of six regional generation and transmission cooperatives based in Springfield, Mo.

SPP Says Better Seams Metrics Coming

SPP staff promised the seams committee “better metrics” on seams flow data during its monthly review of seams congestion and M2M issues.

“We’re not comfortable that [the metrics] tell the whole story,” Kelley said. “The data comes from a lot of different places, and they’re not synched up.”

M2M settlements between SPP and MISO have become less volatile since the process started last March, when MISO compensated SPP $4.34 million for the latter having to re-dispatch generation to lessen congestion on flowgates. SPP has netted $8.75 million from the M2M process through Jan. 18.

— Tom Kleckner