Dive Brief:
- The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s proposal to speed up its remaining legacy interconnection queue study — which includes about 71 GW of projects — received widespread support from renewable energy developers and state utility regulators, according to Monday filings at the agency.
- Without the proposed changes, the “Definitive Planning Phase–2022” interconnection study process will likely be delayed by at least 18 months, affecting other queue cycles, according to MISO.
- “Given the severe backlog in MISO’s interconnection process and the halting progress to date in processing years-old interconnection requests, it is clear that bold action is needed if the region is going to achieve its target of a one-year interconnection cycle and return to reliance on the standard interconnection process as the pathway for fair and efficient resource entry,” Advanced Energy United said in support of the proposal.
Dive Insight:
Like other grid operators, MISO has been working to improve its generator interconnection study processes and clear out pending queues amid growing electric demand forecasts.
MISO conducts interconnection studies under its three-part Definitive Planning Phase process, which currently allows for “endless” restudies in its final phase, affecting other queue cycles and creating uncertainty for project developers, according to the grid operator’s Sept. 21 proposal at FERC.
Under MISO’s current rules, nonviable projects are incentivised to remain in the study process to avoid potential withdrawal penalties, according to the grid operator. This can lead to late withdrawals, which triggers restudies that delay the process for everyone in the queue, MISO said.
To eliminate that problem, the proposal for the 2022 queue cycle would allow projects to exit the interconnection queue penalty free before “Decision Point II,” which occurs on Oct. 20. MISO asked FERC to approve the proposal by Oct. 19.
The proposal also raises the bar for allowing a penalty-free exit later in the review process. Currently, a project can drop out of the queue without penalties if MISO finds it faces a 35% network upgrade cost increase. The proposal increases that threshold to 50%.
And in a move that would apply to all interconnection study cycles, MISO would conduct no more than one final restudy in the last interconnection study phase.
“These measures will accelerate the resolution of legacy queue congestion, provide greater cost certainty for interconnection customers, and prevent prolonged study timelines that have historically hindered interconnection customers from getting generation onto the Transmission System,” MISO said.
The Organization of MISO States, which represents state utility regulators, “tentatively” supports the proposal, according to its comments at FERC.
“OMS believes this approach can materially accelerate the processing of legacy queue cycles while preserving MISO’s responsibility to identify and address reliability concerns,” the organization said.
RWE Americas also supported the proposal, but said additional reforms are needed to address issues such as “the continuing exposure of projects that have executed Generation Interconnection Agreements … to significant and potentially unpredictable cost reallocations resulting from subsequent project withdrawals.”
In separate filings, Ameren and Alliant Energy urged FERC to approve the proposal.
“The ability of stakeholders and MISO to reach consensus on practical solutions to address longstanding queue challenges should be encouraged, particularly where those solutions advance reliability and resource adequacy objectives while improving queue administration,” said Alliant, a utility company based in Madison, Wisconsin.
At least one party raised concerns, however.
In a protest over the higher threshold for network upgrade cost increases to trigger penalty-free withdrawals, Pathway Power, an independent power producer, said the proposal was crafted by MISO and a limited number of stakeholders — Clearway Energy Group, NextEra Energy Resources and EDP Renewables — with only 10 days for comments.
“The proposal shifts financial risk to customers remaining in the queue and away from MISO, which, if the proposal is accepted, will have diminished incentive to provide accurate cost estimates going forward,” Pathway Power said.
