On June 1, 2011 the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.’s (“Midwest ISO” or “MISO”) announced that dispatchable intermittent resources (“DIRs”) are fully available in the real-time energy market.  This change means wind resources are now able to participate in the real-time market like other generators.  The new DIRs are able to supply power and bid into the market; however, they will not provide reserves or be subject to maximum limits.  Wind generators that register as DIRs will be able to submit bids at 5-minute intervals, and those bids are updates ten minutes prior, allowing the RTO to dispatch variable resources more accurately.

In February 2011, FERC approved updates to MISO’s tariff that allowed for the creation of the new DIRs category (see March 11, 2011 edition of the WER).  Although the original application considered applying the DIRs category to other renewable resources, the Commission only approved wind resources to register and participate as DIRs.