Who can become a Transmission Owner (TO) member of MISO?
In general, any entity that owns, operates, or controls facilities used for the transmission of electricity in interstate commerce that are physically interconnected with the facilities of an existing Owner. (See FERC seven factor test below).
How does a company apply for Transmission Owner membership?
The company needs to submit a fully executed Transmission-Owning Membership Application and the non-refundable Membership Application Fee of $15,000. This application will be reviewed by MISO staff and acted upon by the MISO Board of Directors at a regularly scheduled meeting. The application can be accessed on MISO’s website under the Stakeholder Engagement section.
How long are the application process and integration expected to take?
The process generally takes 12-18 months. Large or particularly complicated integrations could take longer. Finalization of integrations will occur upon MISO Board of Director approval at a regularly scheduled meeting. Transfer or energization of assets must also align with the operations model update dates. See Network and Commercial Model Update Schedule and coordinate with the Integration Team before committing to any hard dates or deadlines.
What supporting documents are required with the membership application?
- Membership Application: Fully executed and submitted to MISO.
- Signature Page to Transmission Owners Agreement: Fully executed and submitted.
- Signature Page to Supplemental Agreement: Required for all incoming Transmission Owners.
- Signature Page to Appendix G (Agency Agreement): Required for MISO to provide transmission service for transmission facilities not under MISO functional control.
- Signature Page to the Amended Balancing Authority Agreement: May be required based on Local Balancing Authority status.
- Signature page for the Settlement Agreement on filing rights: The incoming Transmission Owner may become a signatory to the Settlement Agreement filed on November 30, 2004 in Docket No. RT01-87-010, resolving issues concerning the allocation of filing rights to MISO and the Transmission Owners (both individually and jointly) under Section 205 of the Federal Power Act within MISO.
How does MISO determine that facilities are transmission and not distribution?
If a determination is not already complete and available for review, the owner must request that the appropriate regulatory authority, such as FERC or a State Commission, complete a determination using FERC's seven factor test (Order No. 888). If the owner is not subject to regulation by a regulatory authority, the owner must apply to MISO for such a determination. Supporting materials such as one-line diagrams, geographic transmission maps, and a listing of transmission facilities are required.
What is the FERC seven-factor test for transmission facilities?
The seven-factor test, developed by FERC in Order No. 888, determines which facilities are local distribution facilities and which are transmission facilities. This test is used to classify facilities for regulatory purposes.
What facilities are generally transferred to MISO’s functional control?
1. All networked facilities above 100 kV.
2. All transformers whose two highest voltages qualify under the above voltage criteria.
3. All substation equipment that form the endpoints of the transmission lines in item 1, terminate
the transformers in item 2 or provide voltage/stability control.
What are the NERC compliance requirements?
Applicants must review whether a NERC registration, certification, or certification review is required (NERC Rules of Procedure Appendix 5A of the Organization Registration and Certification Manual).
- Applicants, in coordination with MISO, will need to review whether it is necessary to update NERC Coordinated Functional Registrations (CFRs). This applies if the applicant will register with NERC as a Transmission Planner or a Balancing Authority.
- MISO will update and obtain approval for its Reliability Plan for seams coordination with NERC and Regional Entities.
Does MISO provide training for new members?
Yes, MISO offers various training materials to introduce new market participants and members to MISO’s operations. Training materials can be accessed
on MISO’s Learning Center on MISO's Website. See access details here.
What additional documents should a new Transmission Owner review?
- Transmission Owners Agreement
- MISO Energy and Operating Reserves Tariff
- Self-Service Local Security Administrator (SSLSA) User Guide
- All MISO Business Practices Manuals
What are the tariff filing requirements with FERC?
MISO will coordinate with the applicant on submitting Section 205 filings with FERC. This will include:
- Pricing, local resource, and cost allocation zones.
- Rate structure matters: Attachment O (Rate Formulae), Attachment MM (MVP Charge) and Attachment GG (Network Upgrade Charge)
- Integration or continued separation of transmission planning processes
- Transfer of Transmission service agreements to MISO
Is participation in the Planning Resource Auction (PRA) required?
Load Serving Entities must use Planning Resources to meet their Resource Adequacy Requirements. One way to procure capacity is through participation in the PRA. Details regarding Resource Adequacy can be found in Module E-1 and E-2 of the Tariff and MISO Business Practices Manual 011 – Resource Adequacy.
An incoming Transmission owner that does not join MISO within the normal auction preparation window with an integration date of June 1st (start of the Planning Year) may be provided with the opportunity to take part in a Transitional PRA per Module E-2 of the Tariff.
What other agreements might be required?
An applicant may need to provide must-run agreements, operating guides, interconnection agreements, and other operating agreements to MISO for review.
How does a Transmission Owner register as a Market Participant?
Market Participant status is not required for membership but is necessary to interact with MISO’s Tariff (to buy and sell energy, bid and offer load and generation, participate in the FTR markets, or serve as a Load Serving Entity). This involves establishing credit and executing a Market Participant Agreement. Please see the Market Participation Registration page on MISO's website for more information.
How will a new Transmission Owner gain access to MISO systems?
A new Transmission Owner will submit a Non-Market Participant Request for System Access form, which will require the Transmission Owner to obtain a Dun & Bradstreet number; register with the OATI webRegistry; provide valid digital certificates; provide all necessary contacts; and designate a Local Security Administrator (LSA) to manage access to MISO systems. After the Transmission Owner application has been approved by the MISO Board of Directors, access will be granted to MISO systems.
What are the requirements for MISO model updates?
All modeling requirements, including documentation and deadlines, are located in MISO Business Practices Manual 010 – Network and Commercial Model.
How is the Inter-Control Center Communication Protocol (ICCP) connection established?
The Transmission Owner will work with MISO to establish an ICCP connection for transmitting real-time data. Specifications can be found in MISO Business Practices Manual 031 – ICCP Data Requirements. Refer to the ICCP Process Help Center Knowledge Article.
What is the role of the Local Security Administrator (LSA)?
The LSA is a Transmission Owner representative responsible for managing access to MISO systems for the Transmission Owner. This includes creating portal user accounts and ensuring secure access to MISO Market Portal applications. See the Self-Service LSA User Guide
When integrating into MISO, how will existing generators be granted interconnection and transmission rights?
MISO conducts a Market Deliverability Study and evaluates any existing transmission service agreements for potential grandfathered status. If it is determined that generation is deliverable to MISO load, MISO will list the amount of interconnection service granted to the generator into the MISO Generator Interconnection Workbook. MISO may require a Generation Interconnection Agreement with MISO be executed. Transmission Service may also be required through separate application requiring a Transmission Service Agreement
How are existing Auction Revenue Rights (ARR) Entitlements transferred?
ARR Entitlements are held at the Asset Owner level. If the newly integrating Asset Owner will be taking over as the Load Serving Entity (LSE) for loads related to any ARR Entitlements, then a single Load Shift Template should be filled out by all parties and submitted to MISO Financial Transmission Right (FTR) Market Administration team. At a high level, this Load Shift Template consists of the Asset Owner(s) losing and gaining the load, the MW of the load shift, and the effective date/season of the load transfer.
How are new ARR Entitlements granted?
Upon joining MISO as a new Market Participant, the MISO FTR Market Administration team performs ARR Data Gathering (BPM-004 3.9 ARR Data Gathering During Year 1).
For Market Participants which are expanding the MISO footprint, (bringing external load into MISO), a new ARR Zone is defined (BPM-004 3.9.1 ARR Zones) and a Partial-Year FTR Allocation will be conducted.
As part of the integration of new ARR Zones, the MISO FTR Market Administration team will conduct a mid-cycle Annual ARR Registration for the Market Participants in the new ARR Zone(s). This is the process that will grant ARR Entitlements that will feed into the Partial-Year FTR Allocation.
ARR Entitlements are based on historical transmission usage during the Reference Year, which shall be the four full seasons before the integration date.
What is a Partial-Year Financial Transmission Rights (FTR) Allocation?
Upon creation of a new ARR Zone (BPM-004 3.24.2 New NITS Customers & BPM-004 3.9.1 ARR Zones) a Partial-Year FTR Allocation is conducted to provide a means to hedge congestion until the next Annual ARR Allocation year (June 1).
As ARRs for the current Planning Year are allocated in the Spring directly prior to the current Planning Year, FTRs are the hedging mechanism provided for mid-cycle effective dates.
What is required to participate in the Partial-Year FTR Allocation?
The components of transmission rights (including Grandfathered Agreement contracts) for Partial-Year FTR Allocation will need to be timely registered with MISO in four ways:
- Transmission assets on which the rights are based should be registered in time for inclusion in the Network Model and Commercial Model updates immediately preceding the integration date
- Entities claiming transmission rights should register as Market Participants
- The transmission services on which the rights are based should be incorporated into MISO’s Open Access Same-Time Information System (“OASIS”)
- The transmission rights must be recorded during a pre-integration, off-cycle ARR registration that will involve the preliminary gathering of data (relating to ARR Zone, Reserved Source Points, and transmission capacity), and the definition of ARR Entitlements that will form the basis for requests for FTRs in the Partial-Year FTR Allocation.
Which Agreements may be eligible to receive Grandfathered Agreement treatment under the MISO Tariff?
An agreement or agreements for transmission service executed or committed to prior to September 16, 1998. MISO will review individual agreements for eligibility and treatment. Please reach out to TOintegrations@misoenergy.org regarding your specific agreements.
After reviewing this FAQ, what are the next steps?
To start the integration process log into the MISO Help Center and choose My Support. You will open a new case and select Membership Services Project then New MISO Transmission Owner Request. If you do not have an account, use the Request Help Center Access link at the bottom of the page to create one.
Reach out to TOIntegrations@misoenergy.org for additional details.