Dive Brief:

• The Midcontinent Independent System Operator's (MISO) current footprint faces a supply shortfall by 2016. MISO's southern region, to be added by the end of the year, has adequate power supplies, according to a survey by the grid operator.
• The survey indicates the planning reserve margin for MISO's current footprint will fall to about 7% by 2016. MISO has set a 14.8% minimum reserve for maintaining grid reliability. MISO expects its southern region to have a 21% reserve margin by 2016, but transmission capacity between MISO's two regions are limited.

Dive Insight:

The shortfall in MISO's northern region is linked to the expected retirement of nearly 8,000 MW of coal-fired capacity, leaving the area 7,500 MW below its 14.8% minimum reserve margin.

"There's certainly time for the load-serving entities in the region to make arrangements to meet the reserve margin," MISO Chief Operating Officer Richard Doying said. "There is some stranded capacity now — stranded by a lack of transmission capacity — that is relatively easy to resolve by adding transmission at the generator site."