Transmission

RSS

By Rory D. Sweeney WILMINGTON, Del. — The increasing complexity of distribution systems is creating a new “seam” for grid operators, representatives from an industry planning collaborative, the U.S. Department of Energy and Johns Hopkins University said at PJM’s General Session last week on the evolution of system planning. The...

By Amanda Durish Cook CARMEL, Ind. — MISO’s 2016 Transmission Expansion Plan, with 383 projects totaling $2.7 billion, won the Board of Directors’ unanimous approval Dec. 7. The 13th annual transmission package shed 11 projects and $100 million in investment from the preliminary plan that was unveiled in September. (See...

By Robert Mullin Increased transfer capacity is keeping a lid on congestion in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) and limiting participants’ ability to wield market power within their balancing authority areas, according to CAISO’s internal Market Monitor. Gabe Murtaugh, a senior economist with the ISO’s Department of Market Monitoring,...

By Rory D. Sweeney FERC delivered a split decision in approving a rate settlement on a West Virginia transmission project that was opposed by both FERC staff and Commissioner Colette Honorable. | © RTO Insider Chairman Norman Bay and Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur said the settlement between Transource West Virginia, Old...

By Robert Mullin CAISO has narrowed a proposal to protect smaller transmission owners from high costs for network upgrades to interconnect generation serving load outside the TOs’ service territories. The revised proposal seeks to more specifically target the situation confronted by Valley Electric Association. Any policy changes would likely also...

By Tom Kleckner AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee last week approved a revision to the ISO’s planning guide that some stakeholders called the most important policy change this year. The planning guide revision request (PGRR042) changes the criteria used to determine the need for new transmission projects. It...

By William Opalka WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — A transmission project intended to release bottled wind resources in Maine may not be cost-effective, according to a draft report issued at the ISO-NE Planning Advisory Committee meeting last week. The needs assessment for the Keene Road market efficiency transmission upgrades showed relatively small...

By Tom Kleckner DALLAS — Stakeholders working to improve SPP’s cumbersome Z2 crediting process for network upgrades met here last week to learn about how potential solutions might affect the RTO’s other functions — leaving one stakeholder pining for the good old days when he worked in an operations center.

By Amanda Durish Cook MISO and PJM’s targeted market efficiency project portfolio has dipped from seven projects to five. The latest project to drop off is the Marysville-Tangy 345-kV upgrade in central Ohio, which was supposed to deliver $122 million in benefits at a “minimal” cost. PJM and MISO staff...

By Rory D. Sweeney FERC last week approved PJM’s cost-responsibility assignments for its updated Regional Transmission Expansion Plan, dismissing complaints from Dayton Power and Light that one of the projects should have been allocated completely to Dominion Resources (ER16-2539). DP&L protested PJM’s request that the costs to rebuild the Carson-Rogers...