MISO Board of Directors week is a high level summary of what the MISO staff and stakeholders have been working on that quarter and future plans. MISO will host their next Board of Directors meeting at The Westin in New Orleans from March 11 through 13.
Louisiana is a part of a multi-state organization called the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). MISO was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2001 for the purpose of:
MISO is not a regulator. It is an organization that receives dues from members like utilities, power generators, and developers of transmission projects in exchange for their service in providing technical assistance in planning the grid in their territory for optimal performance, as well as ensuring that power demand is met throughout their footprint with the lowest cost resources.
There are 7 organizations across the country that perform similar functions as MISO. They exist for the express purpose of providing more competition and consumer focused planning and operation of the grid – which utilities in their territories may not otherwise provide.
MISO integrated Entergy’s service territory covering Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi in December of 2013 to alleviate concerns expressed by the Department of Justice regarding anticompetitive transmission planning and power generation dispatch on behalf of Entergy corporation. This established the ‘MISO South’ region and increased the number of states in MISO to 15.
Comments at the Committee meetings should be topic specific. The final Board of Directors open session on March 13 at 8am is where you can make general comments to the Board of Directors.
If you plan on attending in-person you must register before March 3. They will ask you to select your “Registration Type.” If you’re a resident within the MISO footprint (which includes most of Louisiana) that makes you a “Stakeholder.”
You can also attend the meetings virtually. To attend virtually you don’t need to complete the general registration form above, but you must register through WebEx.
You must do this for each of the meetings you would like to attend!
At the end of each meeting there is time allowed for comments from the public. They will make an announcement during the meeting and will take in-person comments first. Then they will announce they’re taking comments through the WebEx portal. Use the raise hand function to indicate you have a comment and they will call on you.
We know making a comment can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to! Take a look at our example comment below and feel free to pull from it.
My name is [name] and as a resident of [parish], I’m a residential ratepayer in the MISO footprint. MISO must plan for transmission in the South, as it has in the North. Without strategic long-range planning, MISO South lags in preparing for the energy transition, leading to higher costs and fewer benefits for consumers like me.
MISO’s decisions shape the future of energy in the MISO South states (AR, LA, MS, eastern TX). Attending Board Week and making public comments helps ensure our electric grid is affordable, reliable, and built with residents’ needs in mind.
What: MISO Board of Director’s week
When: March 11 through 13 from
Where: The Westin New Orleans, 100 Iberville St
Register to attend in-person: web.cvent.com/event/a16426d2-dc9e-4dd1-8f31-3ab2ff6e9822/websitePage:46095cb5-53f2-41e5-9973-a6973cc62f31
Register to attend virtually: www.misoenergy.org/engage/tools/calendar/#/month/03-11-2025
