How to Validate MISO Nodes for Virtual Energy Trading

Are you concerned about the validity of the nodes in your MISO virtual portfolio? As a virtual energy trader, it’s challenging to align and optimize your portfolio to include the valid set of nodes the MISO day-ahead market will accept.

The Midcontinent Independent Service Operator (MISO) doesn’t publish an official list of valid nodes for virtual energy trading in the day-ahead (DA) market. This creates a challenge with validating trades within portfolios to ensure that the corresponding nodes are valid and MISO will accept them.

What Are Valid Nodes? 

Valid nodes are the nodes MISO will accept for trading in the virtual DA market. If there are invalid node(s) present in a submitted portfolio, then you will receive an error, and MISO will not effectively process all your subsequent trades. This can result in a significant impact to the performance and risk profile of the submitted portfolio with partial trade acceptance.

To validate nodes effectively, reference the published DA results to confirm the list of nodes reflected by MISO. Then incorporate this as part of the validation checks performed in Submission Services. There still remain instances, however, of nodes published in the MISO DA results not being considered valid. One such case is storage as transmission-only asset (SATOA) nodes.

What Are Storage As Transmission-Only Asset Nodes? 

Storage as transmission-only asset (SATOA) nodes align with FERC Order 172 FERC ¶ 61,132, which allows for the selection of a storage facility as a transmission-only asset (SATOA) in the MISO Transmission Expansion Plan (MTEP). SATOA nodes are reflected with the suffix of “SATOA” in the node name. These nodes are not valid for DA virtual trading, and you will receive an error if you submit a trade  for a SATOA node. This has been factored into the validation framework of Submission Services to ensure that valid nodes are verified for MISO with any invalid nodes flagged for removal.

No Bid of type[D] is allowed for location[WPS.HNSATOA].

Source: MISO Virtual Trading Error

Value of a Comprehensive Validation Framework

Using the validation framework in Submission Services ensures that your MISO portfolio is optimized with only valid nodes included in your portfolio. 

This provides a competitive edge because you can better manage risk and tailor your power trades according to your strategy. It also helps to avoid portfolios and trades that may be sub-optimal or unbalanced from a risk perspective. 

Some of the validation processes that Submission Services includes are:

• Energized and valid nodes

• Electrically similar nodes

• ISO-specific rules (volume and price rules)

• Wash trades

Yes Energy Can Help!

Submission Services takes the guesswork out of DA virtual and spread trade submission. It ensures you align to and fulfill ISO requirements with embedded block and trade functionality built directly into the submission process. We deliver this all to your front office through a visual portfolio analysis dashboard and an easy-to-integrate data API.

Our team of market experts stays up to date on ISO developments and ensures our solutions are proactively updated as required. This is all part of our providing exceptional performance in trade execution and validation. Put our knowledge and expertise to work for you so that you can keep the focus on maximizing your returns in the DA market.

Learn more about Submission Services today, or schedule a demo to see how this tool can enhance your trading.