Wind on the Wires1 - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 152

valued at $5.2 billion dollars with costs to be shared across the entire region, was the
first multistate planning effort of its kind, approved in December 2011. For a line to be
considered an MVP line it had to cost at least $20 million, be at least 100 kV, and help
to meet reliability or economic goals or help MISO members to meet their Renewable
Portfolio policy goals.
While the effort resembled Texas' CREZ process in many aspects, and MISO members
learned from the CREZ process, the level of interstate coordination and negotiation across
the multiple stakeholders in MISO states required an unprecedented level of regional
cooperation. MISO staff calculated the costs and benefits of the new transmission lines for
system reliability andefficiency.They also estimated the degree towhich new transmission
would help in meeting policy goals and estimated that the new lines would save the region
$297-423 million each year through inexpensive western wind power from the Dakotas,
which would displace more costly fossil sources.
MISO submitted its MVP plan for cost allocation across the region to the FERC and the
FERC approved most parts of the MISO plan. (FERC 2010 ). However, several states and
utilities were unhappy with the plan and took the FERC to court. The structure of state RPS
made some parties more likely to sue. For example, in Illinois, rural electric cooperatives
are exempt from state RPS requirements, and did not want to pay for the lines which they
felt would not benefit them. Michigan argued that it would not be able to proportionally
benefit from MVP lines due to the fact that it uses very little power from the MISO grid,
as well as by virtue of its RPS which does not allow for interstate trading and requires
Michigan utilities to count only instate renewable generation to meet the standard.
InJune2013,theSeventhCircuitCourtofAppealsissueditsopinion,upholdingMISO's
MVP process (2013). It found that the Illinois utilities would benefit from increased
reliability and system savings and dismissed the claim that benefits and costs could have
been calculated more accurately, recognizing that significant uncertainty exists. It also
rejected Michigan's claims. This decision allowed for the MVP projects to continue: five
years after the first UMTDI working group, MISO was able to move forward with the
initial MVP lines.
6.5.2 Smarter Grids Across the Midwest for Wind Integration
While the MVP process to expand high-voltage transmission was underway, MISO was
also working to better integrate wind into the grid operations and electricity markets.
In the MISO region, wind power production is highest during winter nights, precisely
when demand is lowest. As wind became a more important part of the generation mix,
this mismatch began to cause problems. Because wind resources were the least expensive