MISO Independent Market Monitor David Patton has made a final stand against the RTO’s $21.8 billion long-range transmission plan, while members are advising the MISO Board of Directors that the IMM's opinions on transmission shouldn't hold water.

As he prepares to exit MISO, President and longtime employee Clair Moeller delivered parting advice, telling industry players to remember the human aspect in energy.

Although it’s largely compliant with the directives of FERC’s Order 1920 on regional transmission planning, MISO intends to seek a yearlong extension of the June 2025 compliance deadline.

Thirteen years after it was recommended by MISO, the 102-mile, $655 million, often-controversial Cardinal-Hickory Creek line is completely in service.

MISO staff are resolute that a collection of 24 proposed, mostly 765 kV projects totaling $21.8 billion is a “least-regrets” avenue to achieving members’ resource planning, despite misgivings from some members.

At their quarterly meetup, MISO members largely agreed there won’t be an easy path to achieving decarbonization affordably for customers.

MISO’s quarterly public meetup with its board of directors put on display the unrelenting rift between the RTO’s planners and the Independent Market Monitor over MISO’s $21 billion in long-range transmission planning.

MISO said its second, mostly 765-kV long-range transmission plan will provide the Midwest region with at least a 1.9:1 benefit-cost ratio, a metric that was greeted with skepticism by Independent Market Monitor David Patton.

After five fruitless attempts to agree on joint transmission projects across their seams, MISO and SPP will use what they call a “blended joint model” in parallel with existing SPP and MISO regional models.

Infocast’s inaugural Midcontinent Clean Energy summit provided panelists a pulpit for critiquing MISO’s interconnection queue setup as it strains under the weight of hundreds of gigawatts intended to further fleet shift and meet load growth.