Energy In-depth: MISO Says Energy Grid Ready For Summer Demand

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MISO SAYS ENERGY GRID READY FOR SUMMER DEMAND
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. (MISO) recently released its 2015 summer forecast, projecting that the Carmel-Ind.-based grid operator will have more than enough electric power generation to meet peak demand during the hottest part of the year.

According to the MISO’s 2015 Summer Assessment, the nonprofit regional transmission organization projects demand to peak at 127.3 gigawatts (GW) with 23 GW of reserve capacity available, resulting in an 18% reserve margin.

While the forecasted reserve margin is still above the reserve margin target of 14.3%, MISO’s reserve margins continue to erode on a year-over-year basis due to current environmental and macroeconomic pressures. As those margins decrease, the likelihood of needing to rely on emergency procedures to balance supply and demand on the grid increases, officials said.

“MISO projects adequate power supplies for the upcoming summer demand,” said Todd Ramey, vice president of system operations and market services. “However starting in the next few years, we are seeing a dramatic shift in the resources available to meet demand during the hottest days of the year. MISO will continue to study the challenges that dwindling reserve margins present, and work with stakeholders to prioritize issues and develop potential solutions that ensure reliability across the MISO region, both in the near term and future years.”

MISO recently broke ground on its South region command center in west Little Rock. The $22 million center is expected to be fully operational by June 1.

CENTERPOINT CUSTOMERS IN ARKANSAS SHOULD SEE LOWER GAS BILLS UNTIL LATE 2015
A CenterPoint Energy spokeswoman said Wednesday that Arkansas customers should already begin seeing lower monthly bills due to a decreasing gas supply rate (GSR) adjustment that comes from falling wellhead prices tied to the cost of natural gas.

The adjustment will lower an April residential gas bill using 50 Ccf (hundred cubic feet) of natural gas by more than 14% compared to last year. This means a bill that was $65.48 last April is $55.92 this month, Centerpoint officials said, although actual bills will vary depending on how much natural gas individual customers use.

CLEAN LINE WIND PROJECT ANNOUNCES PACT WITH TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES
Clean Line Energy announced an agreement Thursday giving East Texas Cooperatives an option to own up to 50 megawatts (MW) of capacity on the Plains & Eastern Clean Line and a portion of the project’s assets.

In August 2014, Plains and Eastern Clean Line LLC obtained regulatory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to sell transmission service to customers at negotiated rates and to negotiate bilateral agreements for 100% of the line’s capacity.
The project, often referred to as Clean Line, is an electric transmission line project that will deliver up to 3,500 megawatts (MW) of wind power from the Oklahoma Panhandle region to communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and other states in the Mid-South and Southeast.

The East Texas Cooperatives include four Generation and Transmission cooperatives throughout East Texas – East Texas Electric Cooperative (ETEC), Northeast Texas Electric Cooperative (NTEC), Sam Rayburn Generation and Transmission Cooperative (SRG&T) and Tex-La Electric Cooperative of Texas (Tex-La) – and collectively serve 10 not-for-profit distribution cooperatives serving nearly 330,000 member-owners.

“The agreement with Clean Line allows us to potentially realize the benefits from owning important new energy infrastructure while maintaining our commitment to provide long-term, reliable and affordable electric power to our members,” said Edd Hargett, General Manager of ETEC.