In February, FERC issued Order 841, Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators (the “Order”), requiring RTOs and ISOs to establish new market participation rules for energy storage that recognize the physical and operational characteristics of these resources. While the Order set forth some minimal requirements that each … Continue Reading
This week the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that could help clarify the allocation of risk in power purchase agreements (PPAs). In Benton County Wind Farm LLC v. Duke Energy Indiana, Inc., the court settled a PPA dispute by concluding that the contract required the utility (Duke) to pay the wind farm … Continue Reading
Following a decision of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released last week that cuts transmission owners’ return on equity (ROE) by more than 200 basis points,[1] ratepayers in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) footprint will save an estimated $200 million per year. Spurred by industrial customers’ challenge to MISO’s ROE rate in … Continue Reading
Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is proposing another round of interconnection queue reform. On December 31, 2015, MISO filed proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission, Energy and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The revisions, which amend MISO’s Generator Interconnection Procedures, would be MISO’s fourth significant set of queue … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce issued its highly anticipated Minnesota Renewable Energy Integration and Transmission Study, which indicated that the “capacity for adding additional wind and solar up to 40% by 2030 can be reliably accommodated by the electric power system” (DOC press release here). The study stated that with relatively modest upgrades to existing transmission, … Continue Reading
Ameren is dusting off a discriminatory method for interconnection customers to fund network upgrades in the Midcontinent ISO region, using two past victories in support of its campaign. But there are key differences between this dispute and those before it, and FERC should deny Ameren's latest attempt to breathe life into the Option 1 funding that met its fate years ago.… Continue Reading
From my colleague, Andrew Moratzka: On June 7th, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in Illinois Commerce Commission, et al., v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, affirming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) Multi-Value Project (MVP) tariff for financing new … Continue Reading
Two new energy storage studies are getting underway this summer in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) footprint: the Energy Storage Study and the Manitoba Hydro Wind Synergy Study. At MISO’s Energy Storage Workshop held on June 29, 2011, MISO explained that its goals are to explore the potential reliability, market, and planning benefits of energy storage … Continue Reading
Yesterday, December 16, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) conditionally approved a proposal by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) that significantly changes how large transmission upgrades are funded across the MISO region. MISO’s proposal creates a new category of transmission projects called Multi-Value Projects (MVPs) for upgrades that are determined to enable … Continue Reading
From our colleague Sarah Johnson Phillips: Much to the relief of wind developers in the Midwest, the Midwest ISO has backed off a plan to charge new and existing generators 20% of the cost of new transmission needed to meet renewable energy development goals. Yesterday, the Midwest ISO released its final cost allocation proposal, which … Continue Reading
This afternoon, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conditionally approved the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator’s (MISO) proposed tariff amendment regarding allocating the cost of network upgrades for generation interconnection projects meeting MISO’s regional expansion criteria and benefits (RECB) standards. See my previous blog entry for a more detailed discussion on the history of the tariff amendment, as well … Continue Reading
On September 2, 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a letter of deficiency to the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator in MISO’s RECB Phase I generator interconnect cost allocation tariff amendment proceedings (Docket No. ER09-1431). See my previous blog entry on AWEA’s protest to the MISO filing for additional background. The letter instructs MISO to provide … Continue Reading
On August 13, 2009, the American Wind Energy Association, Wind on the Wires and certain wind developers filed protests at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator’s (MISO) recent filing at FERC. The MISO filing proposes to revise MISO’s cost allocation methodology for network upgrades for generator interconnection, and resulted from MISO’s Regional Expansion Criteria & Benefits (RECB) Task Force. The current … Continue Reading
From our colleague and FERC guru, Jason Johns: MISO’s Proposed Market Coordination Service: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today rejected the Midwest ISO’s proposed Market Coordination Service that would have given certain transmission owners access to the ISO energy and operating reserve markets without requiring those owners to hand over control of facilities or share … Continue Reading
Check out our client alert on FERC’s recent conditional approval of MISO’s revised large generator interconnection process. It provides highlights of the ruling and identifies next steps that MISO must take in order to flesh out some issues, including certain milestones that generators must meet in order to move towards getting their project interconnected. Beth Soholt, executive director of Wind … Continue Reading
On August 25, FERC issued its ruling on the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) plan to reform the generator interconnection queue process – the method by which transmission requirements for generators wishing to connect new projects to the grid in the Midwest are reviewed and approved. FERC conditionally accepted the proposed tariff revisions, with an effective date … Continue Reading
