Studies and Reports > 2025 Biennial Report > Transmission Projects Report 2025

6.2  The MISO Planning Process

6.2.1 The MISO Transmission Expansion Plan Report

Because nearly all the projects identified in this Report are being undertaken by utilities that are members of MISO, this subsection is provided to assist the reader in finding information about the MISO planning process and the annual MTEP Report prepared each year. Much of the information provided in this subsection was also available in the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 Biennial Reports.

The latest MTEP Reports are available on the MISO webpage at:

http://www.misoenergy.org (Click on “Planning” on the top of the page)

The MTEP process is ongoing at all times at MISO. Generally, utilities submit a list of their newly proposed projects in September. MISO staff evaluates these projects over the next several months, and prepares a draft of the annual MTEP Report around July of the following year. After review by utilities and other interested parties, the MISO board of directors approves the report, usually in December. The process continues with another report finalized the following December. The MTEP25 Report should be approved by the MISO Board of Directors in December of this year.

Each of the MTEP Reports separates transmission projects into two categories and lists them in Appendices as follows:

Appendix A – Projects recommended for approval;
Appendix B – Projects with documented need and effectiveness and long lead time making them not needing approval immediately.

Generally, as projects are first identified, they are listed in Appendix B, and then they move up to Appendix A as they are further studied and ultimately brought forth for construction. Some projects never advance to the final stage – Appendix A – of actually being approved and constructed.

The MTEP Report is an excellent source of information about ongoing transmission studies and projects in Minnesota and throughout a wide area of the country.

• The MTEP Report is prepared annually, so it provides very timely information. The Biennial Report is prepared only every other year.
• The MISO planning process is comprehensive. MISO considers all regional transmission issues, not just Minnesota transmission issues.
• MISO conducts an independent review and analysis of all projects to confirm the benefits stated by the project sponsor. This adds further verification of the benefits of projects.
• MISO holds various planning meetings during the year at which stakeholders can have input into the planning process, so there are more frequent opportunities for input (see next paragraph.)
• All completed projects are listed on the MISO webpage.
• Not duplicating the MTEP Report will save ratepayers money. It is costly to require the utilities to produce all the information found in the MTEP Report.

6.2.2  Finding a Project in a MTEP Report

For each zone, a table is included to describe certain information about each project by Tracking Number. The table looks like this (MPUC Tracking Number 2019-NE-N17 is used for illustrative purposes):

MPUC Tracking Number 2019-NE-N17 is the Running Capacitor Bank Retirement Project. The project can be found in Appendix A of the MTEP19 Report by following these steps:

Step 1. Go to the MISO homepage at: https://www.misoenergy.org.

Step 2. Click on “Planning” at the top of the page. Click on “MTEP” from the drop-down menu. Then click on the “MTEP Reports” link on the left side of the page.

Step 3. Click on the link for the MTEP19 Report and download the .zip file.

Step 4. Click on the “MTEP19 Appendix A – New Projects.”

Step 5. Select the “Projects” tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet downloaded. Hold down the “Ctrl” key and press the “F” key to bring up the “Find” dialog box. Enter the MTEP Project Number, which in this case is 16145, in the dialog box and select “Find Next.” Information about the project can then be read from the row the MTEP Project was found during this search.

Similar steps can be followed for all other projects identified in Chapter 6, including those few that are not Appendix A projects (recommended by MISO for approval). If the MTEP Report you are seeking is an older one, you may have to click on Study Repositories to find these other reports at Step 2.

Project Facilities

Appendices A and B also contain information on the specific facilities (such as transmission lines, substations, etc.) that are part of a particular project. The steps below show how to find this information for the example project.

Step 1. To find information on specific facilities (transmission lines, substations, etc.) that are part of a project click on the “Facilities” tab located at the bottom of the spreadsheet that was downloaded at Step 5 in the above example.

Step 2. Hold down the “Ctrl” key and hit the “F” key to bring up the “Find” dialog box. Enter the MTEP Project Number, “16145” in this example, in the dialog box and then click on “Find Next.” The “Find Next” link can be clicked until all rows containing information about Project Number 16145 have been found. There will usually be more than one row since most projects involve more than one transmission line or substation or other facility.

This same procedure can be used to find this kind of information for other projects and their associated facilities for the projects listed in the tables in Chapter 6 using the MTEP Report and the MTEP Project Number.

Detailed Project Information

Starting in 2008, if the project has been either approved or recommended for approval by the MISO board of directors (i.e., designated an Appendix A project), additional, detailed information about the project can be found in Appendix B in the MTEP Report for the year the project was approved by MISO. For large projects, this information includes a project map, project justification and information about the system inadequacy the project is intended to correct. For smaller projects, a subset of this information is included. Starting with the MTEP08 Report, projects located in Minnesota are contained in the “West Region Project Justifications” portion of Appendix A or Appendix B in the MTEP Report year that the project was approved or recommended for approval. For information on Minnesota projects approved by MISO prior to 2008, see the appropriate year Minnesota Biennial Transmission Projects Report for the appropriate year.

Continuing with our example of the Running Capacitor Bank Retirement Project, Tracking Number 2019-NE-N17, which is an approved Appendix A project, this additional information can be found by going to Appendix B through the following steps.

Step 1. After following the first three steps described above to get to the appropriate MTEP report, click on the MTEP19 Appendices link.

Step 2. Select MTEP19 Appendix B Projects.

Step 3. Once the desired Appendix B is downloaded, use the .pdf search tool to find Project Number 2019-NE-N17and locate information about this project.

This same procedure can be used to find more detailed information on most projects shown in the tables in Sections 6.3 through 6.8 that have moved to MISO Appendix A since 2008. In addition, if you search for a specific utility’s name, you can find information on projects that utility has submitted and have been or are being considered for approval by the MISO board of directors.