MISO monitor says lack of authority hurt operator’s performance during January cold snap
The lights stayed on in southern MISO, but not because generators stepped in or customers stepped up: MISO South began importing energy from other regions.
Platts reports a delayed response to demand response calls limited the resource’s effectiveness, and 9.5 GW of the region’s capacity was in a forced outage. This has led MISO’s independent market monitor to call for additional authorities for the grid operator to manage outages.
MISO went into the winter with a projected reserve margin of 28.3% to 37.3%, with resource outages, load and limited transmission, all making a precise figure difficult to reach. The system is looking for new efficiencies which can be tapped.
The MISO board of directors this month approved a $130 million transmission investment to relieve system congestion in East Texas. Officials say the project will help bring economic benefits to a transmission-constrained area.
