MISO’s first 10 power projects for expedited queue total 5.3 GW of new capacity

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator announced Sept. 4 that it has selected the first 10 power generation projects that will be evaluated under its new expedited interconnection queue.

The first 10 projects approved for entry into the Expedited Resource Addition Study process consist of five natural gas-fired units, three solar plants, a wind farm and a battery energy storage system located across six states, the grid operator said. The projects have a combined installed maximum capacity of nearly 5.3 GW, including 4.3 GW of gas output, and have proposed in-service dates ranging from January 2027 to August 2028.

ERAS is a temporary process that aims to fast-track new power generation to enter service and address near-term resource adequacy and reliability concerns across the MISO footprint, which spans 15 states in the Midwestern and Southern US. The process, which is separate from MISO's standard interconnection queue, will allow for eligible projects to be studied serially each quarter and granted expedited generator interconnection agreements within 90 days.

MISO's announcement came a little more than a week after it said it received applications for 47 projects representing more than 26.5 GW of proposed generating capacity for entry into the new queue. MISO determined that the first 10 projects being studied all met eligibility requirements, and it will start interconnection studies for these while continuing to evaluate for completeness the remaining 37 projects.

"The first 10 projects cover all three regions of MISO, stretching from Louisiana to Minnesota," Jennifer Curran, MISO's senior vice president for planning and operations, said in a statement. "ERAS is a critical tool we can use to support reliability as we work toward long-term improvements in the interconnection process, and each project must meet rigorous standards to make sure only necessary and feasible proposals move forward."

The ERAS queue is limited to 68 total projects, and no more than 10 will be studied per quarter on a first-come, first-served basis. The first quarterly study was scheduled to start Sept. 2. ERAS will sunset at the earlier of the completion of the 68-project study or on Aug. 31, 2027.

In addition to paying certain fees, applicants must meet strict eligibility requirements, including documentation from a relevant electric retail regulatory authority -- for example, a state utility commission -- that verifies the project is needed to support a resource adequacy/reliability need. The interconnection customers must also identify the specific load addition and/or resource adequacy deficiency that the project will address.

Proposed projects

The largest of the first 10 projects is Entergy Louisiana's proposed 1.64-GW simple-cycle gas plant in Richland Parish, Louisiana. The plant has a proposed in-service date of Aug. 4, 2028, and is needed to address a resource adequacy need of greater than 2.00-2.25 GW that is driven by a hyperscale data center, according to information published by MISO. The data center is a $10 billion development planned by Facebook parent Meta.

The second largest project is Invenergy's proposed 1.2-GW simple-cycle gas plant in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. The company said the project, which has a proposed in-service date of Dec. 1, 2027, will address a resource adequacy need of 1.75-2.00 GW for Wisconsin Electric customers located within MISO's Local Resource Zone 2, according to the grid operator.

The largest proposed solar resource is a 310-MW facility by Ameren Missouri in St. Louis County, Missouri. Ameren said the facility, which has a targeted in-service date of June 6, 2028, will serve a resource adequacy deficiency identified in Ameren Missouri's 2025 preferred resource plan.

The sole proposed wind farm among the first 10 ERAS projects is a 360-MW facility by Alliant Energy in Franklin County, Iowa, that has a targeted in-service date of Feb. 6, 2028, and is intended to meet future resource adequacy requirements with MISO's LRZ3. The battery resource is a roughly 91-MW BESS by Otter Tail Power that will meet a need identified in the company's integrated resource plan and is targeted to start up May 4, 2028.