In June, the Organization of MISO States (OMS) and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), published its “2026 OMS-MISO Survey Results,” which looked at system capacity over the next five years.

In sum, the report noted that:

– The region is projected to maintain sufficient capacity to meet demand across the next five years, based upon current load forecasts and anticipated load growth.

– Load growth as submitted by Load Serving Entities (LSEs) continues to accelerate, with a CAGR projected between 3.1 percent and 5.1 percent over five years.

– To support rising demand, the region needs to maintain the increased pace of capacity additions. Timely generation builds, queue improvements, and the Expedited Resource Adequacy Study (ERAS) will help meet this need.

– Seasonal reliability risk is shifting away from summer and toward winter as the resource mix evolves.

– The 2026 OMS-MISO Survey was completed with 99.5 percent participation from resource owners in MISO.

Overall, the OMS–MISO Survey provided a five-year view of resource adequacy, indicating that, if expected capacity meets planning reserve margins and yields a surplus or deficit:

– LSEs are expected to have adequate resources to meet load reserve requirements in each zone.

– Various projected capacity scenarios and large load additions highlight increasing uncertainty and evolving risk.

– MISO zonal views are not included this year as the annual capacity import limit and capacity export limit study will provide value updates and be reported in the Loss of Load Expectation report in November.

The report also focused in on what it called “Upside Possibilities”:

– Continued, collaborative effort of region to align timing of new generation and new load.

– Improved accuracy and confidence in resource forecasting due to methodology enhancements recognizing all Interconnection pathways.

– Ongoing queue reform efforts successfully reduce speculative projects and streamline resource integration processes.

– Market reforms, including Reliability-Based Demand Curve and Direct Loss of Load (DLOL)-based accreditation updates, provide clearer and stronger investment and retirement signals.

– Potential improvement in resource deployment timelines if supply-chain bottlenecks, labor shortages and permitting hurdles ease.

It also identified some “Downside Risks”:

– Winter reliability risks intensify based on resource availability/performance, exacerbating seasonal reliability vulnerabilities.

– Persistent supply-chain disruptions, labor constraints, and permitting challenges delay new resource deployments.

– Resource adequacy pressures continue from load growth driven by data centers, new industrial, and commercial development.

– Continued backlog and uncertainty related to resources with signed Generator Interconnection Agreements (GIA). Specifically:

– 87 GW of signed Generation Interconnection Agreements (GIAs) not yet online (and)

– 192 GW of active Generation Interconnection Agreements (GIAs) still under study.