The Four Actions That Matter Now
| Mitigation Lever | Timing | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity pass-through audit | Before Apr 28 | Identifies whether supplier can reprice capacity after results |
| Demand response enrollment | Before summer season | Turns curtailment capability into offsetting revenue |
| Peak-load control | June-August | Reduces future capacity tag and coincident peak exposure |
| Fixed-rate extension review | Before results publish | May lock capacity assumptions before auction repricing |
1. Audit Capacity Pass-Through Language
Many Midwest supply contracts quote a fixed energy price but reserve the right to pass through capacity, transmission, or resource adequacy charges. Before April 28, pull the executed agreement and look for terms such as capacity adjustment, planning resource auction, resource adequacy, regulatory change, or market pass-through.
If the supplier can pass through the final PRA result, the quoted fixed rate is not actually fixed. Ask for a bill-impact scenario at several clearing price levels and require the supplier to identify the specific line item that would change.
2. Treat Demand Response as a Hedge
MISO's demand resource rules for the 2026/27 planning year emphasize documentation, real-power testing, and the ability to curtail for defined events. That makes participation more operationally serious, but also more valuable if capacity prices rise. A cold-storage warehouse, wastewater plant, manufacturing line, or campus chiller plant with dispatchable load can use DR revenue to offset a portion of capacity inflation.
3. Reduce Future Peak Tags
Capacity cost is not just the auction clearing price; it is the clearing price multiplied by the customer's obligation or peak tag. Facilities that can pre-cool, sequence equipment, temporarily shift batch production, or use batteries during likely system peaks can reduce future capacity exposure even when the market price is high.
4. Decide Whether To Lock Before Results
The final pre-result window is narrow. If a supplier is still offering a fixed product with embedded capacity assumptions, compare that price against a transparent index-plus-capacity product. The fixed product may look higher today but become cheap if the April 28 result surprises upward.
States With Highest Buyer Exposure
- Illinois: Large C&I accounts face both MISO and PJM adjacency risk depending on utility territory and supplier structure.
- Indiana and Michigan: Coal retirement concentration and industrial load shape make peak management especially valuable.
- MISO South: Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas buyers should watch local resource adequacy and data-center-driven load additions.
Sources: MISO Resource Adequacy FAQ; MISO Planning Resource Auction timeline; MISO Demand Resource Registration and Testing Requirements for Planning Year 2026/2027; KilowattLogic MISO PRA pre-auction analysis.