Views:
Since the Grid Emissions dashboard was first released in 2021, stakeholders have shown increasing interest in more detailed emissions information. Their interest is driven by several needs. These include tracking and reporting progress toward emissions reduction goals, supporting new tariff designs in response to end use customer needs, improving operational awareness, and guiding long term investment decisions. MISO is well positioned to support this work because it has access to detailed power system data and the expertise needed to develop credible estimates. MISO also follows strong data security practices to protect confidential and market sensitive information. 
 
  • 2021: Grid Emissions Dashboard launched and is updated annually. The dashboard displays historically generated emissions compiled from Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)data for MISO's footprint and local resource zones (LRZ).
  • 2024: Near real-time generated emissions and marginal emissions pages added at the MISO footprint level to provide a more complete picture of real-time and operating conditions.
  • 2025: Consumed emissions dashboard launched, showing location-based consumed emissions rates and total consumed emissions estimates at footprint, subregion, LRZ, local balancing authority (LBA), state and county level on a near real-time basis. This first-of-its-kind dashboard uses CarbonFlow™ emissions tracking software by Singularity Energy.

On June 30, 2026, MISO replaced the 2024 marginal page with the Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) page, displaying near real-time data at the nodal level to the suite of Grid Emissions dashboards. The dataset will provide a robust characterization of locational emissions estimates through the addition of several novel improvements implemented by Singularity Energy. 


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

Where do I go if I have questions on the Emissions Dashboard?
A guided "tour" of the Dashboard is available by clicking this icon ​. Dashboard tours are unique to each dashboard page. If the dashboard tour does not address all questions,​​​​​​ please navigate to the MISO Help Center to submit questions via a Help Center Case. Use Case Category "Product Launch."

How can the data be accessed? 
Data on each dashboard page can be customized via pulldown menus and the map graphic. 

For what greenhouse gases are emissions estimates available?

  • Historical and Projected Emissions: CO2, CO2e, SO2, NOx 
  • Near Real-Time and Marginal Emissions: CO2 
  • Consumed Emissions: CO2e  
  • Locational Marginal Emissions CO2e

Can I download this information? 
Yes. Click on this icon on each dashboard page to download selected information, or on next to the chart images for options to save the chart file. 

Is an API available for extracting consumed emissions estimates?

Yes. To extract data using the API, first create an account with Singularity (emissions dashboard host) by clicking on this button on upper right corner of the dashboard A picture containing text, hitting, screenshot<br><br>AI-generated content may be incorrect..  After you have created an account, an email will be sent to you for account verification. Once you verify the account, you will be able to click on the account button Graphical user interface, text<br><br>AI-generated content may be incorrect. and obtain the API security key.   
Click on the box containing this key to copy it. For detailed API documentation, please click on the icon on the consumed emissions dashboard page.  At present, the API feature is only available on the consumed emissions dashboard page.  

How often is this information updated?
Each page is updated on a different schedule. 

  • Historical and Projected Emissions: pages are updated annually as new information becomes available.
  • Near Real-Time Emissions: page is updated every 5-minutes following publication of MISO's real-time fuel mix.
  • Marginal Emissions: page is updated on a one-day lag, driven by publication timing of MISO's Fuel on the Margin report.
  • Consumed Emission: page is updated hourly, approximately 90-minutes post real-time, with multiple geographic aggregations.  MISO’s footprint, MISO subregions, and multiple states within MISO will be reported near real-time. All states and subregions in MISO contain four or more LBAs as required for asset masking to protect confidentiality.  

- For those states with significant participation in MISO, where the state’s energy data is fully modeled, emissions estimates will be reported.

- These states include Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. 

  •  Locational Marginal Emissions: page is updated every 5 minutes within 10 minutes after the start of each market interval. 


Reporting timing of consumed emissions estimates for the following geographic aggregations will be delayed to protect data confidentiality:  

  • Total consumed emissions estimates for MISO LRZ’s (Local Resource Zones) and LBA’s (Local Balancing Authorities) will be published on a 2-month lag, consistent with utility reporting to EIA (Energy Information Administration) Form 861-M.  Certain LRZs contain fewer than four LBAs, so LRZ data will be released on the same report timing delay as LBA-level data. 
  • Consumed emissions rate estimates at the county level will be reported one month after the end of each quarter, consistent with utility reporting to EPA CEMS (Continuous Emissions Management System). Total consumed emissions are not reported at the county level to protect confidential nodal load data.  

How is this information similar or different from one another and from EIA (Energy Information Administration) information?

  • Historical Emissions: page leverages EIA and EPA information reported by utilities to the federal government to report generated emissions.
  • Near Real-Time / Marginal Emissions: pages reflect operational data from MISO's website to report generated emissions.
  • Projected Emissions: page is informed by member-provided plans information and MISO-modeled future capacity to model generated emissions.
  • Consumed Emissions: inputs for this page are MISO State Estimator data and MISO’s network and commercial models using CarbonFlow™ implemented by Singularity. Geographic aggregations reported are customized to MISO’s footprint and reporting geographies. Even though total emissions generated, and total consumed emissions are the same across the entire system, the emissions assigned to individual locations will differ. This happens because consumed emissions are linked to where electricity is actually used, based on how power physically flows across the grid and how imports and exports affect those flows. Generated emissions, on the other hand, are counted at each specific generator within a utility area and other defined region. 
  • Locational Marginal Emissions: inputs for this page are MISO Real-time market data and MISO's network and commercial models implemented by Singularity. LME estimates are published in near real-time for every 5-minute interval in alignment with the real-time market, showing how emissions would change at each node in response to small changes in load.

Do dashboards contain confidential information? 
No. All information in MISO's dashboards is publicly consumable, non-confidential and non-market sensitive. 

Why don't you use plant-specific information for near real-time generated emissions estimates? 

  • MISO is using existing operational (footprint-wide) reports to generate emissions estimates complementary to other markets & operations displays for more holistic situational awareness. This footprint-wide granularity is consistent with near real-time emissions estimates reported by other ISO's and RTO's. 
  • Providing plant-specific information near real-time could provide insights about market behavior, which is why plant-specific historical emissions data is published on a significant lag versus real-time. 

Do other ISOs and RTOs publish this information?
Yes, although the form varies, all ISOs and RTOs are either planning to publish or currently publish emissions information.  

How is MSO's LME signal different from PJM?

  • MISO and PJM both provide near real-time load node level data through API's PJM provides LME data for load nodes only. MISO includes generator nodes. 
  • MISO offers an additional interactive dashboard with visualization tool
  • Currently MISO only includes CO2 , and not NOx and SO2
  • MISO uses heat curve-based emission rates using Singularity Energies GRETA model. 
  • MISO provides LME rates every 5 minutes while PJM provides both 5-minute and hourly average data. 
 
 


Why is MISO doing this?
MISO's objective in providing emissions estimates as a data service is to deliver incremental value to MISO members, designed to enable both reporting those emissions and providing emissions-related services to their own customers. 

How can this data be used?
MISO has terms of use for information shared via its website, www.misoenergy.org. A disclaimer (immediately below) will be shared within a README file that will accompany every data download of emissions estimates. 

The content within this document (the “Information”) includes both materials created by MISO and content provided by third parties. MISO does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, integrity, or quality of any of the Information, including third-party content. MISO disclaims all representations and warranties regarding the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the content, information, and data contained herein. Under no circumstances shall MISO be liable for any damages arising from the use of the Information, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages. 

Where can I obtain detailed technical support for your methods, calculations and key assumptions?
For more detail on how emissions estimates are calculated, technical documentation will be made available within each page's dashboard "tour" or via this icon on the consumed emissions dashboard page. 

Will MISO incorporate emissions data into market pricing and dispatch rules?
Emissions data will not be incorporated into market pricing or energy dispatch at MISO.

How does MISO perceive the data quality for areas outside its footprint?
MISO has the best data for both energy operations and emissions estimates within its footprint. Data for areas outside MISO's footprint is regularly updated and used to make MISO operational decisions, but it may or may not be the same quality as MISO data.   

Does MISO’s consumed emissions dashboard reflect the emissions impact of RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) or PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements)?  

  • No. Consumed emissions reported on MISO’s dashboard are “location-based” data that reflect how electricity physically flows from generators to consumers along transmission lines. They do not represent “market-based” allocations such as power purchase agreements, wholesale market purchases, utility tariffs, or RECs.
  • As a proxy in accounting for the impact of carbon-free energy contracts, MISO publishes a non-CFE (carbon-free energy) emission rate on its consumed emissions dashboard, which is also known as a “fossil fuel only” rate.  This rate assumes that all carbon-free electrons in the selected region have been purchased.
Keywords: carbon, emissions, GHGs, greenhouse gases, clean energy, environmental, decarbonization, emissions data, net zero, dashboard, consumed, imports, exports, LBA, LRZ, state, county, PPA, REC, Carbon-free
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