FERC this week refused a MISO interconnection agreement for a Michigan solar farm while Commissioner Mark Christie used the order to point out what he called a defect in the MISO tariff.
The commission said MISO is free to file another generator interconnection agreement for EDP Renewables’ Eagle Creek solar farm in the future (ER23-2443-001).
Currently, the parties to the failed GIA are embroiled in a dispute over how to divvy up ownership interests in the interconnection facilities and network upgrades necessary to accommodate the 120-MW solar farm.
Only transmission owner Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) executed MISO’s GIA. Michigan Electric Transmission Co. (METC), Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative and generation developer Eagle Creek declined to execute the GIA, which would have split ownership 33.33% apiece among METC, MPPA and Wolverine. The three jointly own the Styx-Murphy 345-kV transmission line, which will need to be extended into a new 345-kV station to connect the solar generation. The line is located on METC’s transmission system, and METC said it believes it should have sole ownership over the interconnection facilities and upgrades.
FERC ruled that while MPPA and Wolverine also are legitimate transmission owners with rights to the line, MISO’s GIA is inapplicable because it was written for multiple transmission facilities while the Styx-Murphy line is a single transmission facility, albeit jointly owned.
When it filed the GIA with FERC, MISO said Eagle Creek couldn’t sign the GIA because the final ownership interests of the network upgrade will affect how much it ultimately owes.
Ordinarily, MISO interconnection customers are responsible for all costs associated with network upgrades to accommodate their generation. When the network upgrades are rated 345 kV and above, interconnection customers can receive a 10% reimbursement.
However, METC operates under a circa-2007 grandfathered arrangement where interconnection customers might be eligible to be fully reimbursed when their projects are designated as network resources or have entered capacity contracts with a network customer. Those costs are covered by the load in METC’s transmission pricing zone.
FERC provided guidance to MISO when it refiled the GIA. It said Eagle Creek should pay for MPPA’s and Wolverine’s proposed combined ownership share of 66.66% of costs, with the 10% reimbursement due after commercial operation. Eagle Creek also initially should fund METC’s 33.33% ownership share and be eligible for the 100% reimbursement.
Christie wrote separately to disagree with METC’s exemption to the usual interconnection costs in the MISO tariff. He said while he agreed with the order because it follows the current tariff, interconnection customers should bear the cost of network upgrades necessary for their projects, not load.
“In 2007, the commission likely made a mistake by accepting the carve-out, which on its face appears to be unduly discriminatory and preferential and, most importantly, unfair to consumers, who should not have to pay a developer’s interconnection costs,” Christie wrote.
