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.

A recent webinar from Texas-based analytics firm Aurora Energy Research drew attention to promising and troubling trends alike in MISO’s interconnection queue process.

DOE awarded $371 million to state regulatory agencies to accelerate transmission permitting and to communities impacted by major interstate projects.

MISO’s $25 billion, mostly 765-kV long-range transmission package for the Midwest region is nearing finalization, while the Independent Market Monitor continues to doubt the necessity of the projects.

Clean energy nonprofits continued to try to persuade Entergy and MISO South state commissioners to embrace a broader view of cost allocation for an upcoming long-range transmission portfolio the RTO intends for the subregion.

MISO reaffirmed its commitment to its second, $25 billion long-range transmission portfolio while stakeholders asked the RTO to be mindful of river crossings and whether it may reassign developers for the first LRTP portfolio’s projects in Iowa.

MISO’s second, mostly 765-kV long-range transmission plan could tip past $25 billion with the addition of more projects, stakeholders have learned.