The system planning committee of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc.'s board of directors has endorsed the MISO Transmission Expansion Plan 2011 (MTEP11), a long-term regional plan that recommends $6.5 billion in electric grid infrastructure investments, including transmission for wind energy.
MTEP11 recommends 215 new projects, including 16 multi-value projects (MVPs) that provide regional benefits commensurate with costs and support state and federal energy policy objectives approved in the MISO region.
The System Planning Committee began reviewing MTEP11 and MVPs in August after MISO and its stakeholders spent more than year analyzing the projects included in the report.
On Oct. 20, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reaffirmed its approval of a proposal by MISO to plan and pay for MVPs through cost allocation. FERC gave initial approval to the MISO proposal in December 2010, saying it was just and reasonable, and represents a package of reforms that will enable MISO and its stakeholders to identify transmission projects that provide sufficient regional benefits to warrant regional cost allocation.
MTEP11 now goes before MISO's full board for consideration at its Dec. 8 meeting. Final board approval would require MISO's transmission owners to follow due diligence to construct the facilities approved in the plan.
MISO estimates that the 2011 MVP Portfolio will deliver between 1.8 and three times more benefits than costs. For the average residential customer, that translates to about an investment of about $11 a year in order to receive the annual benefit of $23 in lowered energy costs.
