"The Reliability Burden Rests Squarely On Us" Featuring John Bear, MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator)

C.O.B. Tuesday

Today we had the pleasure of hosting John Bear, CEO of MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator), for a fantastic discussion. John has served as CEO since 2009 and joined the organization in 2004. In his 30+ years of executive leadership in the utility industry, John formerly served as the President of Reliant Resources, on the President’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Energy Systems Network along with other notable board positions including EPRI. MISO is a non-profit organization with a unique member base that serves 45 million Americans and Canadians from the Gulf of Mexico to Manitoba. We were thrilled to visit with John to learn more about MISO’s history and future, along with getting John’s perspective on what it’s like to operate a grid of MISO’s scale today.
John first provides background on the team at MISO, their market, envisioning the grid of the future, and operating reliably and efficiently. We discuss the diversity of use in their coverage area and the advantage of diversity in weather, how operating and managing a grid has changed, John’s perspective on adding large amounts of solar and wind, and the regulatory and supply chain issues delaying installation of new assets. We cover MISO’s current energy supply mix and the risks associated with shutting down dispatchable plants too quickly when adding intermittent sources to the mix, the new seasonal MISO capacity market, growth in electricity demand over the next twenty years, MISO’s Reliability Imperative program to address generation and transmission challenges, and the role for natural gas in MISO’s future. We also discuss the paramount importance of reliability and affordability and the potential of advanced nuclear supply. It was a thought-provoking discussion and we’re thankful to John for joining us and to the team at MISO for the important work they’re doing.
Mike Bradley kicked us off by highlighting the chaotic events in Russia over the weekend. He flagged strong economic stats yesterday (new home sales and consumer confidence) as examples of what may lead to further FED rate increases. He noted crude prices are currently dominated by economic issues rather than geopolitics and that 12-month time spreads (Dec-Dec) are at their lowest backwardation levels this year, which could be predicting a 2H’23 supply deficit not as wide as many hoped. He wrapped up by highlighting a trend where major electric utilities are divesting/selling their unregulated renewables businesses to focus exclusively on their regulated electric utility business. Jeff Tillery chimed in with his observations following the Russian events and noted the increasing awareness the general population has about the importance of grid operators.
Thanks again to John for a wonderful discussion and thanks to you all!