The forces of partisan politics have been working overtime to slow the development of renewable energy in the US, but here comes MISO to upset the apple cart. MISO is the system operator for the electric grid in 15 states in the middle part of the nation. It has just announced the largest portfolio of transmission line projects ever proposed in the US, beginning with an investment of $10.3 billion in 18 new projects for the northern part of its territory.
More renewable energy for the US
MISO (pronounced em-EYE-soh) means Midcontinent Independent System Operatoran agency that oversees a network territory that divides the US practically in half and reaches all the way to Canada.
MISO covers parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin, and the province of Manitoba in Canada.
The states involved in the plan for 18 new transmission line projects are Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. Several states in that region have already been chasing wind power hand over fist, and some recent activity in solar energy field indicates that the solar profile of the area is also moving.
MISO sailed through the CleanTechnica radar during the Obama administration, as its network began to become loaded with some of the first large-scale wind farms In the USA.
“As early as 2012, MISO was reporting peak and record wind power output of 10,012 megawatts,” we note.
That was just to start. “Driven by the nation’s desire for cleaner energy and state renewable energy portfolio mandates, MISO now manages more than 11,000 MW of wind generation in service, with more than 7,000 MW of projects advancing through interconnection requirements,” MISO reported in 2016.
Just four years later, MISO reported twotwo,040 megawatts of in–Service installed wind capacity, and there’s a lot more where that came from.
break the bottleneck
That’s the good news. The other news is that there is only limited transmission capacity, and MISO is well aware that enthusiastic renewable energy developers in its territory have been lining up around the block to connect their clean kilowatts to the transmission lines. That’s queuing, like waiting in line to connect. And waiting.
The problem, as in other areas of the US, is that renewable energy resources are deep, but long-distance transmission capacity is shallow.
That is about to end. our friends in the clean network alliance estimates that the 18 new MISO projects alone will unlock 53 gigawatts in new wind, solar, hybrid, and battery-type energy storage projects.
“[That’s] meno power on 12 million households and 213,000 jobs,” CGA enthuses. “On 120,000 jobs they can what’s more be esteemed to the result of transmission workso we they can suppose on 333,000 total jobs from the transmission work and renewable resource building together.”
More transmission lines, less fossil energy for the US
Speaking of job creation and domestic energy supply, the new MISO proposal belies the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, which was touted as a job creation machine by its backers. That project was also planned for the US midsection, though virtually none of the benefits would be realized there.
The pipeline was ground to a halt during the Obama administration and briefly came back to life during the Trump administration, before finally biting the dust last year when President Joe Biden revoked a key permit as part of a wide-ranging series of executive actions aimed at a undo some of the environmental damage of the previous four years.
Another important fossil energy project in the region, the Dakota Access Pipeline, has faced desperate pushback from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, among others. When last known, the project is on hold while the US Army Corps of Engineers does a renovation on its environmental review.
MISO’s new set of transmission line proposals also stands in stark contrast to another pipeline proposal in the region, namely a proposal to channel carbon from various ethanol plants around the Midwest to storage sites in North Dakota. Opponents are already organizing against the plan, reportedly taking some cues from the Standing Rock Tribe.
More transmission lines for more renewable energy
Where were we? Oh right, he 18 new transmission line projects they are actually just Tranche 1 in a meticulously planned series of network improvements outlined in MISO’s Long-Range Transmission Planning process, which is the articulation of “the shared responsibility that states, utilities, members and MISO have to address complex generation-driven challenges.” fleet change and extreme weather events increasingly threaten electrical reliability in the region.”
“These critical projects are necessary to begin integrating the next-generation resources outlined in MISO member and state plans and increase resilience to severe weather events,” explains MISO.
Looking at that $10.3 billion price tag for Tranche 1, MISO estimates the cost-benefit ratio works out to be an impressive 2.2, at the very least. “Benefit metrics include congestion and fuel savings, avoided capital costs of investing in local resources, avoided transmission investment, resource adequacy savings, avoided risk of loss of load, and avoided transmission cost.” decarbonization,” says MISO.
For those of you keeping score at home, Tranche 2 will also cover the Midwest Subregion, Tranche 3 will focus on MISO South, and Tranche 4 “will address limitations in energy exchange between the Midwest and South MISO Subregions.” “.
The new climate bill just made things a lot easier
As if on cue, yesterday Democrats in the US Senate announced an agreement on the new climate law with the only holdout on his side of the aisle, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. The bill still has a long way to go before it reaches President Biden’s desk, and of course Senator Manchin could change his mind yet again, but the bill is finally on the way, at least for now.
With all 50 Democrats lining up in favor and Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaker vote, the climate bill at least has a better chance of surviving than it did last week, when Manchin said he wouldn’t support it.
What changed? Who knows? The end result is a huge win for MISO and other broadcast planners.
Among the renewable energy topics cited in an official one-page summary of the bill is this:
“In addition, the agreement calls for comprehensive permitting reform legislation to be passed before the end of the fiscal year. Permitting reform is essential to unlocking home energy and transmission projects, which will lower costs for consumers and help us meet our long-term emissions goals.”
Interesting! That could leave plenty of wiggle room for all sorts of different power projects, but the emphasis on cost-cutting and emissions targets puts a big finger on the scales of new renewable power transmission lines.
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Image credit: Map of proposed new transmission line projects courtesy of MISO.
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