On February 28, 2019, FERC denied the Coalition of Midwest Power Producers, Inc.’s (“Power Producers”) complaint alleging that Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) violated its tariff (“OATT”) by not requiring all capacity resources to be deliverable up to their installed capacity levels (“Complaint”).  FERC concluded that MISO reasonably implemented its OATT provisions regarding capacity resources.

On December 31, 2018, Power Producers filed their Complaint proffering three main arguments why MISO failed to require resources to be deliverable to their full installed capacity level.  First, Power Producers argued that there is no language in the MISO OATT that allows MISO to find that an Energy Resource Interconnection Service (“ERIS”) resource has satisfied deliverability requirements if the resource has firm transmission service for an amount less than its installed capacity level.  Second, Power Producers argued that MISO failed to procure capacity consistent with its Loss of Load Expectation (“LOLE”) Study, which requires that resources be deliverable to their installed capacity levels in order to meet the required LOLE.  Third, Power Producers argued that MISO has unduly discriminated against Network Resource Interconnection Service (“NRIS”) resources by treating ERIS resources as deliverable to their full installed capacity levels when they have only procured firm transmission service up to their unforced capacity levels.  Power Producers requested that FERC: (1) find that MISO violated its OATT by not requiring capacity resources using ERIS to procure sufficient firm transmission service to allow them to be fully deliverable at their installed capacity level; and (2) direct MISO to implement a deliverability standard for all ERIS resources that would require firm transmission service up to their installed capacity level.

FERC rejected each of the Power Producers’ arguments and denied their Complaint.  Regarding the alleged OATT violations, FERC found that MISO consistently used unforced capacity values for purposes of resource adequacy and, therefore, MISO reasonably implemented its OATT by requiring capacity resources with ERIS to demonstrate deliverability up to their unforced capacity levels.  Additionally, FERC found that MISO’s current practice does not jeopardize system reliability because MISO ensures that planning resources are feasible and makes any necessary adjustments through an iterative process, which reasonably mitigates the risk that the planning resources that clear MISO’s capacity auction cannot be delivered to load.  Lastly, FERC rejected Power Producers’ argument that MISO unduly discriminates against NRIS resources because according to FERC, MISO’s implementation of its OATT requires all capacity resources, regardless of whether they have NRIS or ERIS, to be deliverable up to the resource’s unforced capacity level, not the installed capacity level.

A copy of FERC’s order can be found here.