The Midcontinent ISO's board on Feb. 2 approved the 500-kV Hartburg-Sabine Junction transmission project and will conduct a competitive solicitation to select the developer.
The grid operator will issue a request on Feb. 6 for qualified developers, who will have until 5 p.m. ET on July 20 to submit proposals, MISO officials said in a press release. MISO will select a developer by the end of 2018.
The Hartburg-Sabine Junction project, previously referred to as the West of the Atchafalaya Basin project, consists of 500-kV line with a new substation in eastern Texas and is expected to ease power flows in Entergy Corp.'s service territory in MISO's South region. The market efficiency project is MISO's second to undergo a competitive selection process required by Order 1000, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rulemaking in 2011 to reform regional transmission planning and open the process up to competition.
During the board meeting, Jennifer Curran, MISO vice president for system planning and seams coordination, said the project is expected to have a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.25, a ratio that MISO requires for a project to qualify as a market efficiency project. MISO estimates the project to cost $130 million and for it to be in service in 2023, according to the press release.
"The investment will strengthen the grid, alleviate longstanding congestion issues and import limitations, allowing lower-cost generation to serve customers in the area," Curran said.
The project is included in MISO's transmission expansion plan for 2017, which the board approved in December 2017. At that time, the board deferred approval of the Hartburg-Sabine project to give FERC time to approve certain tariff changes related to how costs are divided between the Texas and Louisiana areas.
FERC accepted those tariff changes prior to the board meeting, with an effective date of Jan. 30, Curran said during the meeting.
