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Councilors question $4.95 million MISO transmission fee; staff explain tariff-based, load-driven charges
Summary
Aldermen pressed staff for details on a nearly $5 million FY2026 transmission-schedule fee to MISO and The Energy Authority, learning the charge is tariff-driven and based on the city's load rather than on local generation.
Aldermen on March 11 asked city utility staff to explain a $4,950,000 transmission-schedule fee the city will pay for fiscal year 2026 to Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and The Energy Authority.
Alderman Notriano said he could not reconcile the figures in the backup materials and asked for the underlying contract or tariff information. "The contract's not in the backup details and I was wondering why it wasn't," he said.
A city staff member (spoken on the record as "Mister Brown") responded that the fees are mandatory tariff charges set through MISO and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and are assessed based on the city’s load rather than its generation. "These are the fees that we have to pay to be basically on the grid… it's based upon our load," Brown said. He explained that some fees support large regional transmission projects and that the charges are expected to rise in coming tranches as additional high-voltage lines are built.
Council members asked follow-up questions about where supporting contract documents could be found. Brown said the fees are tariff-driven and that contract material with the market participant (The Energy Authority) is separate; he recommended the clerk's office for public copies and said some materials are in FERC tariffs and related links rather than a single city contract document.
Aldermen also sought clarity on line-item breakdowns in the materials provided: the packet referenced both a 2026 total and a subset labeled "26a" (the packet listed $4.3 million for a combined item and $3.2 million for the 26a subset). Brown explained that the "26a" figure is a subset of the overall 2026/26a total. He added that as summer peak load grows (air conditioning season) the city may draw more power from the regional grid, which would affect costs.
Alderman Gregory asked whether the city is currently connected to the grid; Brown confirmed the city is on the grid and can both buy and sell power through market participation arrangements administered by The Energy Authority.
No formal vote or change to the authorization was recorded beyond approval of the related ordinance on the consent calendar; Alderman Notriano asked staff to provide related contract materials to the clerk so they could be posted for public review.
Why it matters: the transmission-schedule fees represent a multi-million-dollar recurring expense that will affect utility operating costs and may factor into future rate and budget discussions; the committee requested additional documentation to improve transparency.
