What's Happening in Energy highlights the most interesting findings from public utility commission filings.

• A key Southwest Power pool committee rejects a large load cost shift mitigation proposal,
  
• Two utility mergers are underway: one received a Commission staff recommendation of approval, and the other gets a Walmart testimony
• A preliminary view into the large load portal is coming soon to ERCOT,
• A look at what it means to “subscribe” monthly to a gas plant in Wisconsin,
  
  And more, more, more.
  

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What's Happening in Energy — Oct 30
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Rejection of a Cost Shift Mitigation Proposal // SPP

Southwest Power Pool’s Market and Operations Policy Committee (MOPC) rejected the proposed “load safe harbor” cap of $21.25 million in network upgrade costs identified in interconnection studies. Cost above the cap would be directly assigned to loads. SPP’s cost allocation working groups approved this market design change (RR814), but MOPC did not. However, the proposal is a core part of the RTO’s response to FERC’s Show Cause Order, and will still go before the Board for a vote on November 7.

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2026 Integrated Resource Plan // Southwestern Public Service (Xcel)

Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS) filed its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan. The utility modeled peak demand growth under three scenarios: low planning, constrained planning, and unconstrained planning. The constrained forecast starts lower than the unconstrained forecast, but the two converge by 2033. Both scenarios use the same load request inputs, but the constrained scenario reflects delayed generation and transmission buildouts. The chart below shows this delay as a 1 GW shortfall between the two scenarios by 2029.

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2025 Value Proposition // MISO

How valuable is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)? According to MISO, its net value in 2025 was $7.6 billion — a 21:1 benefit-to-cost ratio. MISO calculated that value with one simple equation: costs without MISO minus costs with MISO. Here’s a waterfall chart, broken down by category.

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A New Large Load Portal // Preliminary View // ERCOT

ERCOT shared a preliminary view (slides 9-10) of the Large Load Portal it is developing. The portal is meant to increase transparency into the large loads entering the batch process. According to a footnote, “Field names and labels are subject to change as the design is further refined.” Behold:

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Improved Penalties for Demand Response // MISO // FERC

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved MISO’s proposed reforms to the penalties it imposes on Load-Modifying Resources (LMRs). The reforms aim to reduce the number of fraudulent resources participating and to incentivize better performance. Because LMRs earn revenue in the capacity market, the reforms add a penalty for underperforming LMRs based on the season’s Auction Clearing Price. They also redefine what constitutes a “complete” failure to perform and suspend resources that completely fail to respond multiple times in a season. The changes take effect on June 1, 2027, ahead of the 2027/2028 Planning Year.

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450 MW of New Gas // PowerSouth // Bay Gas // Alabama

Bay Gas Transportation applied for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) with the Alabama Public Service Commission to build the Lowman Connector Project. The 21-mile pipeline would connect the Lowman Energy Center to 2 billion cubic feet (BCF) of stored gas at the Bay Storage facility near Washington County.

PowerSouth, a generation and transmission cooperative, plans to build a new unit at Lowman with 450 megawatts of simple cycle gas capacity. According to PowerSouth, the connector would improve resiliency by diversifying Lowman’s fuel supply. Because the pipeline is bidirectional, it could also send gas back to the storage facility and other power plants in the area.

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Testimonies Filed // NextEra-Dominion Merger // South Carolina

Testimonies have been filed in the NextEra-Dominion merger docket in South Carolina. None of the testimonies support the proposed merger absent conditions, and a few reject it outright. The Office of Regulatory Staff recommended that the Commission adopt a “Most Favored Nations” clause to ensure that South Carolina’s terms are at least favorable as those adopted in other states.

Staff also asked the Commission to cap Dominion Energy South Carolina’s (DESC) equity at 55% of its capital structure and to require bill credits to run four years instead of two. A few testimonies: Walmart argued that the $2.25 billion in credits should be the floor. The Department of Consumer Affairs opposed the merger unless the Commission imposes a three-year rate freeze, and other parties argued for a six year rate freeze.

Halcyon angle: Halcyon Grids make it easy to analyze multiple testimonies filed on one date. Check out the grid we created to analyze testimonies filed in this docket. Each row is a testimony, and each column asks a specific question across all testimonies — click into a specific cell under the “Issues Addressed” column to read about specific testimonials.

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Recommended Merger Approval // Black Hills // NorthWestern // Montana

Staff of the Montana Public Service Commission recommended approval of NorthWestern Energy’s proposed merger with Black Hills Energy. If the Commission approved the merger, NorthWestern would acquire Bright Horizon Energy, the new name of Black Hills. Read Halcyon’s summary of Staff’s recommendation. On October 27, the Commission ultimately voted to postpone its decision until November 10.

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Subscription to a Gas Plant // Bespoke Resource // Oracle // We Energies

Wisconsin Electric (We Energies) filed an unexecuted version of its Bespoke Resource Energy Service Agreement with Oracle. The contract would govern how Oracle pays for part of the capacity it needs to serve the 3.5 GW Stargate data center in Port Washington. Under the contract, Oracle would “subscribe” to 100% of the output of the 270 MW Foundry Ridge Energy Center for 30 years via monthly charges. The charges cover all costs, from construction to O&M and fuel. In return, Oracle would receive the benefits of the plant’s participation in MISO’s energy and capacity markets.

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More Contract “Public Summaries” // Google // Georgia Power

Georgia Power filed public summaries of two 15-year Electric Service Contracts with Google: one for a 1,900 MW load in Columbia County and one for a 300 MW large load in Monroe County. Like the OpenAI contract, they include provisions for monthly minimum bills, up-front infrastructure payments, termination payments, performance security, and a “Target Load Ramp.”

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New Docket of the Week

• 755 MW Combined Cycle Gas Plant // OG&E // Oklahoma // Preapproval Application Filed

  Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E) has asked the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) for a determination of need and approval of Horseshoe Lake 15 (HL 15), a 755 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle unit. The unit would be built at OG&E’s Horseshoe Lake generating facility on the east side of Oklahoma City (new docket profile here). The utility requested to use Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) treatment to recover construction costs and the cost of capital during construction. After the plant enters service in October 2031, OG&E would recover costs through a Generation Capacity Rider.
  
  The estimated cost of HL 15 is $1.748 billion, excluding construction financing costs and taxes. OG&E contracted directly with General Electric (GE) for the power island: the combustion turbine, heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine. Under the contract, the utility must confirm the order by June 30, 2027 to lock in pricing and scheduling. TIC-S&L Oklahoma Power Partners, a joint venture of TIC – The Industrial Company and Sargent & Lundy, would handle balance-of-plant engineering, procurement, and construction. Here’s a chart of the estimated cost.
  
  
  

Excerpt(s) of the Week

• The Eye of Sauron // Public Hearing // LNG Expansion // FERC
  
  Cheniers has proposed expanding its LNG facilities in Corpus Christi, Texas. At a public hearing on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), one resident compared the facility’s flaring to the Eye of Sauron. Emphasis ours in bold below:
  
  “The applicant received its first permits to begin construction in 2014. During the succeeding 12 years, this facility has steadily increased its emissions, including massive amounts of GHGs. The tower flare, affectionately known to residents as the eye of Sauron, has flared countless times since the startup. It happens so often it is rare to see the flare not in full throttle. With each new phase expansion, the flare appears larger than when first commissioned and the thick black smoke that comes with the increasing burns indicates a failure in its efficiency. The noise from the flaring is deafening and the light from the flare pierces even the darkest shades and nearby homes. Yet the [draft] EIS says the flaring is a part of the plant and residents are now used to it.”

Most clicked from last week’s WHiE

• Georgia Power DERMS deployment status report
• MISO’s new item on the large load menu: GRITS