MISO urges Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold ‘pseudo-tie’ conference
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold a technical conference to address a bevy of pseudo-tie proposals and complaints.
“A technical conference would allow discussion of reliability and efficiency concerns in addition to the proper application of pseudo-tie requirements, including administration, reliability, markets and settlements,” MISO said Friday in comments on a PJM Interconnection proposal to change its pseudo-tie rules.
Pseudo-ties allow a grid operator, such as PJM, to dispatch power plants outside its footprint for transfers to the importing balancing authority area.
PJM’s proposal to impose tougher requirements on pseudo-tied resources that want to participate in the grid operator’s capacity market is partly designed to ensure that the capacity can be delivered as promised.
Potomac Economics, MISO’s market monitor, and others have panned the proposal. The market monitor contends that PJM’s proposal will impose costs on MISO and hurt grid reliability.
In its filing Friday, MISO said the proposal would likely reduce the number of external generators that pseudo-tie into PJM.
MISO is also proposing changes to its pseudo-tie rules, which has drawn a protest from PJM.
Meanwhile, there are six pending pseudo-tie complaints against MISO and PJM. Generally, the complaints argue that pseudo-tied generators are being charged twice for congestion fees by MISO and PJM.
A technical conference would give FERC a chance to better understand complex pseudo-tie issues in a forum that allows for real-time discussion instead of a long-running exchange of pleadings in different dockets, the Midcontinent grid operator said.
“MISO believes that a technical conference would provide an opportunity to structure the discussion around pseudo-ties, fully vet the benefits and challenges they create and set the stage for the commission to develop sound policy for pseudo-tie management,” MISO said.
The grid operator said the conference should focus on reliability, markets and efficiencies. The meeting also could tackle issues such as the advantages pseudo-ties have over fixed or dynamic schedules and the level and nature of pseudo-tie-related coordination that is needed between neighboring regional transmission organizations.
The meeting also could address possible resolutions to challenges associated with pseudo-ties, such as firm flow entitlements and methods of making units whole that are dispatched to support the native balancing authority’s local transmission system, according to MISO.
