Notice: MI Power Grid meetings and all other MPSC workgroup meetings will be conducted via teleconference only until further notice. Please find remote access information for upcoming meetings on our calendar of events.
On July 7, 2022, the Commission published an order in Case No. U-21251 to initiate the Distribution System Data Access workgroup. Customer-owned, distributed generation (DG) and electric vehicles (EVs) will be staples of a decarbonized Michigan economy. In keeping with the emission reduction and vehicle electrification goals laid out in the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the Distribution System Data Access workgroup will collaborate with stakeholders and utilities to create a grid integration study for the expansion of DG and EVs as requested in Michigan Senate Resolution 143.
The Grid Integration Study will:
- Identify the impacts of increased distributed energy on the grid at both the grid-wide and location-specific levels, as well as the measurable effects of generation and electric vehicles on grid reliability in other states
- Model and project the scale of expansion for DG systems and EVs in Michigan
- Assess both the need for and impact of new technologies on both sides of the meter
- Investigate the costs and benefits of the expansion of DG systems and EVs
- Coordinate with utilities to analyze circuit-level distribution data and demonstrate hosting capacity throughout the state. The hosting capacity analyses will inform customers as well as DG/EV infrastructure developers on where the grid can accommodate the integration of further DG systems and EV infrastructure.
Information about the utility distribution system - where projects can interconnect to the system, how large those projects can be, and the system-wide impacts of integrating these technologies is essential to increasing DG and EV adoption and lowering the administrative costs for DG contractors, EV charging infrastructure developers, and prospective site host.
This workgroup will focus specifically on system data access as opposed to customer data access. As recommended by staff in the MI Power Grid Status Report submitted on October 15, 2020, the Data Access and Privacy work area was bifurcated into the issues of system data access and customer data access, and the latter was integrated into the MI Power Grid Customer Education and Participation workgroup.
Workgroup Activity
- MPSC Staff Electric Distribution Plan report (September 2018) recommended providing additional system-level data to third parties and exploring hosting capacity studies
- Case No. U-20147 was opened in April 2018 as a repository for certain rate-regulated utilities to file distribution plans
- The August 2020 order in Case No. U-20147 directs DTE Electric Co., Consumers Energy Co. and Indiana Michigan Power Co. to include plans for hosting capacity analyses in their respective 5-year distribution plans
- Michigan Senate Resolution 143 (September 2020) requests that the Commission coordinate with utilities on a study that demonstrates the “potential opportunity to integrate customer-owned generation resources into the electric grid” and the associated challenges
- In December 2021, the DOE’s Grid Modernization Initiative selected MPSC as a recipient for a technical assistance grant
- July 2022 order opens Case No. U-21251 and officially launches the Distribution System Data Access workgroup
- In August 2022, the Workgroup convened two separate stakeholder sessions for the DG and EV communities which included presentations from utilities on hosting capacity and dialogues with over 150 participants
- In late September and early October 2022, MPSC Staff and NREL colleagues met with DTE Electric Co., Consumers Energy Co., and Indiana Michigan Power Co. to discuss feedback from the August stakeholder sessions
- In November 2022, the MPSC convened a stakeholder conversation on hosting capacity alongside NREL colleagues and utilities to identify hosting capacity issues and best practices
- In December 2022, the MPSC issued an Order in Case No. U-21251 to extend the deadline of the grid integration study from December 31, 2022 to no later than June 30, 2023.
- On June 30, 2023, the final Grid Integration Study was filed in Case. No. U-21251.
Additional Research
Following submission of the Grid Integration Study, MPSC Staff requested technical assistance from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to further investigate some specific recommendations included in the Grid Integration Study. The technical assistance provided by LBNL resulted in a memo on Hosting Capacity Analysis that outlines considerations to inform future hosting capacity maps. LBNL also provided a memo outlining considerations related to a Minimum Level of Electricity Service as outlined in the Grid Integration Study recommendations. The MPSC Staff would like to thank LBNL for their contributions to help the MPSC Staff continue to make progress related to the recommendations contained within the Grid Integration Study.
Stakeholder Sessions
8/16/2022- DG stakeholder session (virtual)
Agenda | Recording | Presentation Slides | Meeting Notes
8/22/2022- EV stakeholder session (virtual)
Agenda | Recording | Presentation Slides | Meeting Notes
11/18/2022 - Hosting capacity stakeholder conversation
Meeting Notes
4/7/2023 - HCA Technologies Session (virtual)
Information | Agenda
Related MPSC Case(s)
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