On April 25, 2011, Entergy Corporation (“Entergy”) announced that the company will be joining the Midwest Independent System Operator (“Midwest ISO” or “MISO”). Entergy expects to formally join MISO by December 2013. Entergy anticipates making their initial filings with retail regulators on or before May 12, and soon thereafter, Entergy will file their formal retail regulatory filings.
Entergy operates in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and over the past year, an Entergy committee has been evaluating the merits of joining an RTO, or enhancing Entergy’s current Independent Coordinator of Transmission (“ICT”). Entergy was considering both the Midwest ISO and the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”), and currently SPP is serving as the ICT. In deciding to join MISO, Entergy cited to the cost-saving benefits of MISO’s Day 2 market. According to Entergy, the Day 2 market will create a large wholesale market for buying and selling power, and the savings for Entergy customers could be as large as $1 billion in power production costs by 2022. SPP’s Day 2 market is not currently operating.
A link to the Entergy press release is available here.