News > CEO’s Message – August 2023

CEO’s Message – August 2023

Electric Connection – What Exactly is the MISO Market?

Daily, we use electricity without considering the intricate system behind its delivery to our homes, farms and businesses. The electric grid consists of power plants, wind turbines, power lines, substations and communication tech owned by various utilities, united in the goal of affordable and reliable electricity.

Stearns Electric Association relies on Great River Energy (GRE) for wholesale power, but another vital yet less known player exists: the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). Operating across 15 U.S. states and Manitoba, MISO ensures grid stability by matching power supply with energy demand. MISO helps the region’s electricity providers deliver reliable, affordable energy in three ways:

IT ACTS AS AN ‘AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER’
Forty-two million people depend on MISO every day. Think of MISO as the air traffic controller to the region’s electric grid. Using sophisticated technology, processes and procedures, MISO maintains a broad view and control of the grid that goes beyond any one utility. This helps utilities maintain reliability on a regional level and prevent emergency operating situations.

IT MANAGES THE ENERGY MARKET
In the past, generation and transmission co-ops like GRE would generate power and deliver it via power lines to their members. Coordinating the power flows and transactions at that time was a manual process requiring many agreements between utilities. Today, all electricity generation is offered into the MISO market and cooperatives buy back what they need to serve their member-consumers. The MISO energy market helps keep electricity affordable by ensuring the lowest cost generation available is used first to supply member-consumers and minimize flow constraints across the grid. MISO also provides improved price transparency with energy market price changes occurring every five minutes.

IT PLANS TRANSMISSION
Maintaining a reliable high-voltage transmission system requires ongoing planning efforts. Utilities conduct their own transmission planning, and they collaborate with MISO, which plans the transmission system that serves the entire region. MISO ensures the system is prepared to meet future needs from a regional perspective. It works with the region’s electric utilities to minimize the cost of transmission, generation and the energy on the system. Using advanced modeling and research, MISO helps ensure reliable and efficient electricity transmission in the region and beyond.

GRE works closely with MISO to make sure when it designs a plan for the region’s electric system, it will serve cooperative members well in terms of both reliability and affordability.

The MISO market ensures regional electricity stability, available 24/7. During extreme weather like scorching summers or polar vortexes, MISO, including GRE, communicates constantly. They collaborate with other facilities, deploying resources to safely lower energy demand, ensuring reliability for millions and maintaining affordability. A crucial partner to Stearns Electric, MISO and GRE play pivotal roles.

Visit misoenergy.org to learn more about MISO.

Sincerely,

Matt O’Shea
Chief Executive Officer