Report: MISO Facing Potential Shortages in 2018

The Organization of MISO States (OMS) and MISO released the results of their annual resource adequacy survey, and the groups said that results indicate that the MISO region has adequate capacity for 2017 with potential shortages in 2018 and beyond.

The assessment shows that the region should be able to meet the expected peak demand for electricity with an adequate safety margin for 2017. The survey shows that a surplus of 2.7 gigawatts (GW) is available; this surplus could be reduced to 0.9 GW if recently announced generation retirements and suspensions in Southern Illinois materialize. If these retirements proceed as announced, available resources could fall below minimum required reserve margin levels as early as 2018.

The survey also indicates certain locations within the MISO region will fall below reserve margin requirements in 2017. These areas should be able to import needed capacity from neighboring zones to meet their requirements, MISO said

Notably, Southern Illinois (Zone 4) could see a 1.2 GW deficit in 2017 depending on retirements

Additionally, Lower Michigan (Zone 7), where lawmakers are debating imposing capacity obligations on retail suppliers, is shown with a 0.3 GW deficit for 2017