MISO's 2026 Planning Resource Auction (PRA) cleared capacity payments between $116-$126 per megawatt-day. This result was a 42% decline from the 2025/26 record high of $217/MW-day. This is the second year under MISO’s reformed capacity market using the Reliability-Based Demand Curve (RBDC).

​For more information on the mechanics of MISO’s capacity market, read our explainer.

What were MISO’s 2026/27 capacity prices?

The RBDC framework, introduced for the 2025 PRA, replaced the vertical clearing model with a continuous, reliability-based demand curve. This curve prices prices capacity as a function of reliability rather than a binary surplus clearing target.

​The shift to seasonal pricing under the RBDC has also reshaped the seasonal composition of capacity revenue. Summer's share of annualized revenue rose from 38% in PY 2024/25 to 78% in 2025/26 to 85% in 2026/27. MISO’s capacity market is now driven by summer reliability concerns, with fall ($34/MW-day), winter ($36/MW-day), and spring ($8/MW-day) marginally contributing to annual capacity prices.

The North/Central region (Local Resource Zones 1 to 7) cleared at $126/MW-day. The South sub-region (LRZs 8 and 10) cleared at $116/MW-day, due to transfer constraints to MISO North. Additionally, LRZ 9 in Louisiana cleared at $123/MW-day.

​Why did MISO’s capacity prices fall year over year?

The 2026/27 clearing prices reflect new generation additions, postponed fossil fuel retirements, and increased accreditation for renewables.

Cumulative capacity offered into the summer auction grew by 4.8 GW year over year, from 137.8 GW to 142.6 GW. In addition, new generation (+5.6 GW) and external resources (+1.0 GW) outpaced retirements (-1.4 GW) and net accreditation losses (-0.4 GW). Solar made up the largest share of the new builds, followed by gas and BESS.

Additionally, solar benefited from increased accreditation and was able to bid more unforced capacity (UCAP) than prior years. Meanwhile, wind and some thermal units had their accreditation factors adjusted downwards as MISO recalculated their reliability contributions.

The summer surplus above MISO's Planning Reserve Margin Requirement (PRMR) rose to 4.6 GW, up from 2.6 GW in 2025/26. That landed in the upper half of the 1.4 to 6.1 GW range projected in the 2025 OMS-MISO Survey. This growth in available capacity ran counter to market expectations of a continued decline.

With generation outpacing above the targeted reserve margin, the RBDC's downward-sloping demand curve cleared at a lower price point.

What are the revenue implications for BESS in MISO?

For a 4-hour battery in the MISO North/Central region, capacity revenues dropped from $75/kW-year in 2025/26 to $44/kW-year in 2026/27, a 42% decline. Summer alone accounted for $36/kW-year of that revenue, with the other three seasons accounting for $6/kW-year combined.

Duration beyond 4 hours adds no incremental capacity factors in MISO, so longer-duration batteries see no additional accreditation benefits.

As opposed to duration, location drives revenue disparities between BESS assets. Batteries sited in the North/Central region would capture the higher $126/MW-day annualized price. However equivalent assets in Miso South would clear at lower prices, narrowing project economics.

For battery developers more broadly, the 41% capacity revenue decline highlights the importance of energy arbitrage spreads and ancillary services revenues.

Asset operators should expect annual capacity revenue to remain volatile under the RBDC. Year two prices retreated meaningfully but stay well above the pre-2024 baseline of less than $10/MW-day. The 2026/27 prices take effect June 1, 2026.