Just like city planners design roads and bridges to support future growth, MISO plans the electric grid to ensure it can meet the needs of tomorrow—while keeping electricity reliable and affordable today.

We don’t do this alone. Our planning is shaped by input from utilities, state regulators, and other stakeholders across our region.

Here’s how it works:

Resource Planning: Ensuring Enough Power for Everyone

1. Resource Adequacy

Resource adequacy means making sure there’s enough electricity to meet demand—on the hottest summer day, the coldest winter night, and every day in between.

• MISO’s Role: We look at the big picture—forecasting future demand, assessing current generation, and identifying potential shortfalls across the region.
• States and Utilities: Each state and utility is responsible for securing enough electricity to meet their local peak demand.

2. Integrated Resource Planning (IRP)

MISO works with utilities and stakeholders to develop long-term plans that balance reliability, cost, and sustainability. These plans combine a mix of energy sources—like coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, and battery storage.

3. Capacity Markets

To help ensure there’s enough electricity when it’s needed most, MISO operates capacity markets. These markets allow utilities and energy providers to buy and sell generation capacity, encouraging investment in reliable power sources.

Transmission Planning: Connecting the Dots

Just like highways connect cities, transmission lines connect power plants to the communities that need electricity. MISO helps plan and prioritize these connections.

1. Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP)

LRTP focuses on big-picture, long-term projects that prepare the grid for the future. These projects support:

• The growth of renewable energy
• Changing demand patterns
• Regional coordination and grid modernization

2. MISO Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP)

MTEP is our annual planning process. It identifies projects that:

• Improve reliability
• Reduce congestion
• Support new generation
• Meet policy goals

These projects range from small upgrades to major new transmission lines.

3. Multi-Value Projects (MVPs)

MVPs are large-scale projects that deliver long-term benefits—over 20 years or more. They’re designed to support reliability, economic efficiency, and public policy objectives.

4. Cost Allocation

MISO ensures that the costs of transmission projects are shared fairly—based on who benefits the most.

 Together, these planning efforts help build a resilient, efficient, and future-ready grid—one that can adapt to new technologies, changing energy sources, and growing demand.