Manitoba Hydro delegation visits MISO headquarters

In January 2023, a delegation from Manitoba Hydro visited the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (MISO) headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota as part of a trip to meet with customers and stakeholders in the United States.

“As a coordinating member of MISO, we thought it very important to meet with senior executives and staffers at MISO to get to know them and introduce some of our new team members — myself included —who will be handling our interface with this critically important organization,” said Nikhil Karanwal, Manitoba Hydro’s Director of Energy Markets.

“Our long-time Advisory Council chair Audrey Penner has moved on to our Legal department, so we wanted to ensure our relationship with MISO continues along the excellent path Audrey had established.”

From left to right: Nikhil Karanwal, Director, Energy Markets; Lauren MacMillan, Section Head, Wholesale Power Marketing; Alex Chiang, Vice-President, Customer Solutions & Experience; Scott Powell, Director, Corporate Communications; and Karyn Scanlon, Department Manager, Energy Markets Strategies and Wholesale Marketing Department during a recent meeting with MISO in Minnesota.

Manitoba Hydro joined MISO via a coordination agreement in 2001. As a coordinating member, Manitoba Hydro is part of a much larger interregional transmission coordinating entity. Manitoba Hydro also participates in the MISO Capacity, Energy, Ancillary Services, and Financial Transmission Rights markets, through which it delivers to the MISO footprint approximately 1,000 MW of capacity and 10 TWh of energy on an annual basis.

Enhanced reliability and energy security are but two of the many benefits of MISO membership. For example, this cross-border approach allowed Manitoba Hydro to easily meet provincial demands for electricity during the 2021/22 drought, which reduced hydro generation — and mere months later, to export surplus electricity during an excessively wet spring.

“Manitoba Hydro has been actively involved in the MISO market for many years, participating in numerous stakeholder groups to ensure ongoing unfettered access to the export market for surplus energy,” said Karyn Scanlon, Department Manager, Export Markets Strategies & Wholesale Marketing. “This engagement has provided valuable benefits to multiple utilities in the United States and Canada thanks to the strengthened overall reliability of our connected grid.”

Along with introducing new team members, the meeting also produced high level discussion as to how Manitoba Hydro and MISO are approaching the opportunities and challenges of the changing landscape within the energy market.

“As many provinces and U.S. states work towards achieving their net zero carbon free targets, bringing an increased number of renewables on-line has become a priority and a challenge for MISO,” Nikhil said. “Manitoba Hydro reiterated its message to MISO that when it comes to the attributes needed to support the grid’s evolving and ever-changing resource mix, Manitoba Hydro is there to help with its reliable, fast-ramping, clean, renewable and non-emitting energy creating a ‘win-win’ on both sides of the border.”