{"id":655675,"date":"2026-08-21T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=655675"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:25:00","slug":"ferc-approves-spp-topology-optimization-plan-for-cutting-grid-congestion-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=655675","title":{"rendered":"FERC Approves SPP “Topology Optimization” Plan For Cutting Grid Congestion"},"content":{"rendered":"

FERC Approves SPP “Topology Optimization” Plan For Cutting Grid Congestion<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved the Southwest Power Pool\u2019s proposal<\/a> for using \u201ctopology optimization\u201d to reduce grid congestion and its related costs.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, grid operators respond to grid congestion by redispatching power plants, which can lead to higher production and congestion costs, SPP said in its May 21 proposal to FERC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, with grid-enhancing technologies, grid operators can use topology reconfiguration to change power flows as a less expensive way to handle congestion, according to SPP, which runs the grid in all or part of 17 states from north Texas to North Dakota.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 19, 2026, approved the Southwest Power Pool\u2019s proposal for using \u201ctopology optimization\u201d to reduce grid congestion, which could cut down on the amount of wind generation the grid operator curtails. Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Under SPP\u2019s plan, market participants will be able to submit proposals for reconfigurations due to power plant outages or grid constraints, or the grid operator itself may offer a reconfiguration, according to SPP\u2019s application at FERC.<\/p>\n

SPP will analyze the potential reconfigurations to determine if the wholesale market as a whole will benefit from the reconfiguration, the grid operator said. SPP will also assess the reconfiguration\u2019s effect on grid reliability before approving a change.<\/p>\n

A study conducted by NewGrid, SPP and the Brattle Group found that historical system operating limit violations could be eliminated for 75% of the constraints that were analyzed, with potential congestion cost savings of $18 million to $44 million a year, the grid operator said.<\/p>\n

In its application, SPP pointed to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator\u2019s success with economic topology reconfiguration, which MISO started using in 2024. So far this year, MISO has saved $95 million through economic reconfigurations, according to an Aug. 18 staff presentation to the grid operator\u2019s Reliability Subcommittee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SPP\u2019s plan was developed through its stakeholder process and supported at FERC by Advanced Energy United<\/a>, the Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies Coalition<\/a>, and a joint filing by Evergy, Enel North America and EDF Power Solutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SPP\u2019s congestion costs averaged $1.6 billion a year over the last three years, Evergy, Enel and EDF noted, citing the grid operator\u2019s market monitor\u2019s most recent state of the market report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, SPP averaged 1,382 MW of curtailed wind and solar resources throughout 2025, \u201crepresenting cost increases for consumers and creating reliability risk due to potential generation shortfalls,\u201d the companies said.<\/p>\n

\u201cReconfigurations reliably reroute electric flow around congestion by opening or closing circuit breakers, and has afforded millions of dollars in congestion savings across MISO and SPP,\u201d they said, adding that SPP already uses topology reconfigurations to manage reliability issues.<\/p>\n

In separate concurring statements, FERC commissioners Judy Chang and David Rosner urged other grid operators to adopt topology optimization as a means for better managing power flows, including during extreme weather conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an example of the type of advanced transmission technologies that can readily help the U.S. power system quickly integrate more load and generation while reducing costs to all consumers,\u201d Chang said.<\/p>\n

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is set to implement a topology optimization mechanism early next year, SPP noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 08\/21\/2026 – 13:25<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FERC Approves SPP “Topology Optimization” Plan For Cutting Grid Congestion By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved the Southwest Power Pool\u2019s proposal for using \u201ctopology optimization\u201d to reduce grid congestion and its related costs. Traditionally, grid operators respond to grid congestion by redispatching power plants, which can lead to… Continue reading FERC Approves SPP “Topology Optimization” Plan For Cutting Grid Congestion<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":655659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=655675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/655659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=655675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=655675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=655675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}