MISO Study Queue Tops 13,000 MW Dominated by Wind and Solar
As the industry looks at Michigan’s long-term energy future, an unprecedented number of wind and solar projects are being proposed by power producers to meet the state’s future energy needs. Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the regional transmission operator that oversees energy delivery in 15 states, is currently reviewing 32 generator interconnection requests in Lower Michigan as part of MISO’s generator interconnection study process. Additionally, there are 36 projects in Lower Michigan waiting to be studied. In total, there are 34 solar and 27 wind projects. As these generators advance through the study process, unit owners will be provided decision points to continue with the study process at the end of each of the three study cycles. Successful owners will execute a Generator Interconnection Agreement (GIA) with ITC, which will commence ITC’s work on constructing facilities needed to interconnect the generator.
In total, these projects represent more than 13,000 Megawatts (MW) of prospective generation; an amount that is greater than 50% of Lower Michigan’s peak load. “It’s an interesting phenomenon right now. The energy landscape is truly changing,” says ITC Director of Planning Chuck Marshall. “In recent years we have witnessed a buildout of generation in Michigan’s Thumb region, yet a majority of the queue today is siting generation in other rural areas of our state. It appears the recent retirement of legacy coal fired resources coupled with renewed renewable goals and tax credits are driving more solar and wind projects than we’ve ever seen proposed in the past, while queue reform is driving an unusually high number of projects into the MISO queue. While the outcome is unknown, ITC remains committed to integrating these diverse energy resources and providing our customers a reliable and secure connection.”
For information on additional projects, visit the MISO Generator Interconnection Queue.