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 it will file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 15, 2010. In the final proposal, the cost of Multi-Value Projects (MVPs) will be spread evenly to load throughout the MISO footprint on an energy basis. MVPs are transmission projects needed to support renewable energy development, other policy drivers, or have multiple benefits such as reliability and market efficiency. Previous cost allocation proposals would have allocated 20% of the cost of MVPs to new and existing generators. That potential cost burden and resulting cost uncertainty had caused some wind industry observers to speculate that wind projects would abandon the Midwest for other parts of the country where transmission is cheaper.Continue Reading Midwest ISO Final MVP Cost Allocation Proposal Won’t Charge Generators for New Transmission Needed for Wind Energy