​Battery energy storage now accounts for 27% of capacity in the MISO Expedited Resource Addition Study (ERAS) Cycle 3, announced March 9. Up from less than 2 percent in Cycle 1 released in Q3 2025. Fifteen projects totaling 8.8 gigawatts were selected. A single utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), accounts for 37 percent of the cycle across natural gas and storage.

Key takeaways

• Battery energy storage has grown from less than 2 percent of ERAS capacity in Cycle 1 to 27 percent in Cycle 3. 2.3 gigawatts across eight projects, all utility-owned or contracted.
• NIPSCO's two applications total 3.3 gigawatts across natural gas and storage, driven by 2.5 to 2.8 gigawatts of projected data center and manufacturing load growth.
• With 53 active projects, the program is approaching its 68-project cap. Roughly one full cycle remains before it sunsets in August 2027.

How does Cycle 3 compare other MISO ERAS Cycles?

Natural gas is the largest fuel type in every cycle, but its share has fallen from 82 percent in Cycle 1 (4.3 gigawatts) to 73 percent in Cycle 3 (6.4 gigawatts). Battery energy storage has taken the difference.

Cycle 3 contains no solar or wind. Data center and manufacturing load requires round-the-clock firm capacity, and utilities filing ERAS applications are building to meet it with natural gas or storage, not intermittent generation.

Who received approvals from MISO?

NIPSCO's Schahfer Project (E0042) requests 2,740 megawatts of natural gas, two combined cycle turbines at a single site and the largest individual ERAS application to date. Mitchell Battery (E0033) adds 527 megawatts of storage. Both filings cite data center and advanced manufacturing load in NIPSCO's 2024 Integrated Resource Plan.

Entergy Louisiana (1,640 megawatts, West Fork Creek) and Entergy Texas (478 megawatts, San Jacinto) add over 2 gigawatts of natural gas in MISO South, also driven by data center load.

All eight battery projects in Cycle 3 are utility-owned or backed by bilateral agreements. . The change from earlier cycles is scale, not structure. But, 2.3 gigawatts of utility-procured storage in a single cycle signals that MISO utilities now treat batteries as a core resource, not a pilot.

How close is ERAS to capacity?

ERAS caps at 68 projects under MISO's tariff before sunsetting on August 31, 2027. With 53 active projects, 15 slots remain. That is estimated to be one more cycle, especially as 13 pending applications are moved through the approval process.

MISO has not signaled any extension beyond 2027. If the program closes without renewal, remaining projects revert to the Definitive Planning Process, where study timelines run three years or longer.

What does this mean for developers?

ERAS Cycle 3 confirms that MISO utilities now treat BESS as a core dispatchable resource, not a pilot technology. 2.3 gigawatts of utility-procured storage in a single cycle, all driven by data center and manufacturing load, is a structural shift in how the region plans its grid.

But the pathway to build is narrowing. ERAS has roughly one cycle of capacity left and MISO has not signaled an extension. When the program sunsets, every new project reverts to the Definitive Planning Process, where study timelines run three years or longer. For merchant BESS developers, the picture is worse: ERAS was never open to them, and DPP offers no faster alternative.

The broader pattern is clear: data center demand is pulling MISO's resource mix toward firm, dispatchable capacity. Natural gas and storage are winning that build cycle. Solar and wind are absent from Cycle 3 entirely. Unless MISO reforms its interconnection process or extends ERAS, the region's storage buildout will remain utility-paced, tied to integrated resource plans and rate cases rather than market signals. That is a fundamentally slower deployment model than merchant-driven markets like ERCOT, and it will shape where developers allocate capital over the next five years.