By now, you know there are serious challenges to the reliability of our region’s electric grid. You know we have the Reliability Imperative—the shared responsibility to address these urgent challenges. Yes, we have to work together—faster, better, smarter. We know what the call is, and we’ve made great progress over the past couple of years. So, what are our key priorities moving forward? We have a long list for 2024. And it includes three biggies: Attributes, Accreditation, and Long-Range Transmission Planning.

If you read our Attributes blog, you will recall two things: what it takes to win the NCAA basketball tournament, and that MISO has an Attributes Roadmap. The tourney is over, so let’s talk about the roadmap. It contains recommended solutions to address three priority attributes: system adequacy, flexibility and stability. The focus in 2024 is to prioritize the integration of these solutions.

A second priority this year is Accreditation. That's the process of evaluating and certifying the reliability and performance of the different types of generators. It's important to do. For example, replacing a 100 MW gas generator with a 100 MW wind farm does not provide the same level of reliability. MISO uses accreditation to assess the capability of resources to meet the system’s needs 24/7/365. In March, MISO filed an accreditation approach with FERC.

Our third priority is developing a robust, least-regrets portfolio of transmission projects. Work continues on Tranche 2 of our Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP). This portfolio will enable the renewable and decarbonization goals of our members and states. This multi-billion-dollar recommendation will be sent for approval to the MISO Board of Directors later this year.

Navigating this rapid grid transformation isn’t easy. We are making important progress. But there is much to do, and time is not on our side. Our region’s 45 million people are counting on us – electricity providers, states, and MISO – to get it right. This is our Reliability Imperative.