Stakeholders last week requested MISO take a second look at its recommendation for expedited transmission projects in Michigan.

During a series of technical study task force meetings, the RTO said it would recommend five expedited projects in its 2023 Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP23). However, stakeholders said a $63 million package of a proposed substation and line work in Michigan could use more evaluation.

ITC subsidiary Michigan Electric Transmission Co. (METC) proposed that it construct a new 138-kV substation, build 1.5 miles of new 138-kV line and rebuild more than 25 miles of 138-kV lines near Big Rapids, Mich., to serve a new large industrial customer. METC said approvals cannot wait on the December deadline for the MTEP approval. The project has a March 2025 in-service date and is backed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

During a Wednesday task force meeting, Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative’s Tom King said his utility’s planned upgrade of nearby 69-kV and 138-kV lines by 2024 could help alleviate the need for some of the METC project’s elements.  

Thompson Adu, MISO’s senior manager of transmission expansion planning, said staff will evaluate Wolverine’s suggestion further. He said MISO could either consider the alternative for the second half of the project or recommend the as-is expedited request at the Jan. 25 Planning Advisory Committee.

During the meeting, stakeholders also asked whether they could propose alternative projects for the solutions outlined in expedited project requests. Adu said MISO can examine alternatives but that expedited projects are sometimes urgently needed and don’t allow time for in-depth study.

The grid operator has recently fielded a steady clip of expedited project reviews to primarily accommodate new industrial load. A series of expedited project recommendations last year in MISO South led some stakeholders to question whether staff is engaging in thorough and cost-effective transmission planning and exploring alternatives. (See Stakeholders Doubt MISO Study of Alternative Tx Projects.)

Another expedited request from Michigan also produced concern. MISO said it found no issues with ITC’s $5.5 million, 120-kV underground cable relocation to allow the Michigan Department of Transportation to begin freeway construction.

Thompson said MISO would conduct further closed-door discussions on the project details of the expedited request.

The RTO did clear Henderson Municipal Power and Light’s proposed 161-kV line reroute to make way for a new recycled paper mill in Kentucky. The $160,000 tap project is necessary to accommodate Big Rivers Electric’s previously approved $20 million transmission project to accommodate the mill’s new load. That project was also an expedited request under MTEP 22.

MISO also said it found no reliability issues with Arkansas Electric Cooperative’s plans to add 50 MW of capability to a pair of Mississippi County Electric Cooperative substations.