MISO and PJM are considering four interregional transmission project candidates as targeted market efficiency projects (TMEPs).
The grid operators said during a Thursday Interregional Planning Stakeholder Advisory Committee (IPSAC) teleconference that the four congestion-relieving projects were whittled from a list of 23 solution ideas.
They are assessing:
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- a potential project to upgrade ComEd terminal equipment for the Quad Cities to Rock Creek 345-kV flowgate near the Iowa-Illinois border;
- a conductor and switch replacement on the Mohomet-Champ 138-kV flowgate in central Illinois;
- bolstering the Powerton-Towerline 138-kV flowgate in central Illinois; and
- a potential fix for the congested Chicago-Praxair 138-kV flowgate near the Chicago area.
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The grid operators plan to complete an evaluation of the upgrades in September. Until then, they continue to review historical congestion and perform no-harm tests, PJM Senior Transmission Engineer Jeff Goldberg said.
MISO and PJM said they were considering conducting a TMEP study in February. (See MISO, PJM Weigh ’22 Interregional Plan.)
The RTOs said they experienced about $519 million in congestion costs on market-to-market flowgates over 2020 and 2021; $328 million of that total has been determined as persistent and is not slated to be fixed with future upgrades.
MISO and PJM have approved three small TMEP portfolios since 2017 and one larger interregional market efficiency project in northwest Indiana in 2020.
TMEP projects must cost less than $20 million, completely cover installed capital cost within four years of service, and be in service by the third summer peak from their approval. The projects are assessed using a shorter time horizon than interregional market efficiency projects.
Earlier this year, some stakeholders asked the RTOs to also consider a more intensive interregional market efficiency project study to analyze expected future congestion instead of waiting until they amass years of expensive historical congestion. Staff officials have said the timeline this year supports the lighter TMEP study because MISO is embroiled in its long-range transmission planning work.
MISO and PJM will hold another IPSAC meeting Aug. 26.
