Dive Brief:
- Google, Xcel Energy and other utilities, and clean energy trade groups support the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s proposal to create a framework for interconnecting generation that will serve large loads at the same substation and at the same voltage level, according to filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
- The Zero Injection Generator Interconnection Agreement proposal — which includes related study process and operational requirements, and market and resource adequacy provisions — would offer 90-day reviews for zero-injection resources that have little or no effect on the transmission system, MISO said in its Aug. 18 proposal at FERC.
- Some environmental advocates opposed the approach, however. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups urged FERC to order MISO to rework its proposal, saying they support the grid operator’s goal for colocated load, but that its plan is flawed, partly because it could perpetuate cost shifts onto existing utility customers.
Dive Insight:
MISO’s proposal is a partial response to FERC’s mid-June “show cause” orders finding that ISOs and regional transmission organizations appeared to have inadequate rules for interconnecting large loads. The commission has ordered grid operators to respond by mid-November.
MISO had been working with stakeholders on the zero-injection proposal before FERC issued its show cause order, according to the grid operator, which runs wholesale power markets and the electric system from Louisiana to Minnesota.
Among the proposal’s requirements is a provision stating that an eligible generating project can have no more nameplate capacity than the load it would serve. Also, the generating resource cannot require network upgrades beyond the substation, except for system protection facilities at an adjacent substation.
The zero-injection proposal is one part of MISO’s broad effort to facilitate a surge in planned large load additions, mainly from data centers and cryptocurrency miners, according to the grid operator. It is the first proposal to emerge from MISO’s recently created Large Load Working Group.
The working group is also developing a fast-track Load Addition and Resource Study process, which would assess the transmission infrastructure needed for new large loads and new generation, MISO said.
AES Indiana, Ameren, Dairyland Power Cooperative and other utilities support MISO’s zero-injection proposal.
“MISO’s proposed ZGIA framework would establish a uniform and tailored interconnection service that will provide regional benefits to generation and load with safeguards to avoid disruptions to the Transmission System and MISO’s current interconnection process,” they said in a joint filing at FERC.
Advanced Energy United and the Solar Energy Industries Association also support MISO’s proposal.
“Improving the ‘speed to power’ for colocated loads that will have little to no impact on the broader transmission system will help reduce pressure on an already backlogged interconnection queue,” AEU said.
The proposal “appropriately limits Zero Injection Generation Interconnection service to co-located configurations, addressing deliverability concerns,” SEIA said.
Google told FERC the proposal is a “step forward,” but urged MISO to expand its concept to include situations with load and generation connected by two substations — a configuration that would be common in an “energy park.”
“By including more potential load and generation configurations, MISO can unlock more new generation on an expedited basis,” Google said.
But a coalition of environmental and community groups told FERC that MISO’s proposal lacked adequate safeguards.
“This process could have the opposite of MISO’s intended effect by instead operationalizing ongoing cost shifts that will be difficult, if not impossible, for states to untangle, triggering otherwise preventable reliability shor*t*falls, and allowing generators with ZGIA service … to perpetually gain an unfair advantage over projects in [the Definitive Planning Phase],” the Sierra Club and other groups said, referring to the grid operator’s generator interconnection study process.
