MISO to speed up power plant grid connections after US approval

MISO, a top North American power grid operator, will fast-track the process for new power plants to connect to the grid after U.S. federal regulators approved the plan, the organization said on Tuesday.

WHY IT MATTERS

U.S. grids have seen demand shoot up in recent months from Big Tech data centers, sending the country's electricity consumption to record highs and creating a sudden urgency to quickly add new electricity supplies.

MISO, which controls the flow of electricity on transmission lines across 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, will reduce the interconnection study process time for some power plant projects seeking to connect to the grid.

The measure is "a temporary and targeted solution designed to bring urgently needed generation resources online quickly amid unprecedented load growth and increasing reliability challenges," MISO said in a statement.

THE DETAILS

MISO's plan follows a similar effort by PJM Interconnection, which is the biggest U.S. power grid, to cut the time it takes to approve new additions to the grid.

A maximum of 68 projects will be processed under the expedited program, which will sunset by August 31, 2027.

The projects must show they can be up and running in three-to-six years.

MISO will start accepting the expedited interconnection requests next month, with the first quarterly study starting on September 2.