MISO 120-day load study draws state, Google objections at FERC

MISO's proposed 120-day LARS study track for loads over 200 MW paired with generation in the same local resource zone drew FERC objections from a majority of state utility commissions, Google and environmental groups.

MISO proposed the process earlier this month. Under the proposal, MISO would study planned load and generation at the same time. The application says the track responds in part to FERC's mid-June finding that its large-load rules are inadequate, including for integrating "proximate" loads and generation. MISO would accept applications only from transmission customers, meaning an independent generator would need a utility sponsor; critics said that favors vertically integrated utilities over independent producers.

The Organization of MISO States told FERC that a majority of its members have "significant concerns," including cost-shifting risks to existing customers and potential effects on competition. OMS said LARS cannot become a general alternative to the existing generation interconnection queue or provide preferential access to transmission capacity without adequate safeguards for existing queue participants and transmission customers. It added that any LARS-like program should end after five years.

Google and a coalition including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council said in separate filings that the proposal would leave existing customers paying for network upgrades needed for new loads and generation. Google said the absence of cost-shifting protections is especially concerning because the structure threatens its commitment that other retail customers not bear the costs of serving its data centers, including through its Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Google has been funding grid and storage for its own data centers, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported, including a 600 MW project in Arkansas this month. MISO's cost-allocation details, Google said, are "open questions, which the Commission cannot simply assume away."

Eleven state utility commissions backed OMS's comments, while commissions in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi filed in support of MISO's plan. Ratepayer advocates representing six states also opposed the proposal, partly over cost-shifting concerns.

The cost-allocation framework MISO files next month will determine who pays for the network upgrades the paired load and generation require. OMS wants a five-year sunset written into any LARS program. FERC will weigh those terms against MISO's argument that the track speeds grid access for new large loads.