Electric utilities join coalition urging FERC to issue final transmission planning rule
Several of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities (IOUs) on Thursday joined members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), environmental groups and other stakeholders in urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a final transmission planning rule as soon as possible.
“We support the commission’s proposal for regional, long-term, scenario-based transmission planning and urge the commission to issue, as soon as practicable, a final rule that will facilitate needed transmission investment,” wrote the entities in a Dec. 7 letter sent to FERC commissioners.
The coalition that signed the letter included eight IOUs — Ameren Transmission, Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc., Edison International, Exelon Corp., ITC Holdings Corp., Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Public Service Electric and Gas Co., and Xcel Energy — as well as the National Audubon Society, the Blue-Green Alliance, the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council in Missouri, four IBEW members from around the country, The Permitting Institute, and WEG Transformers USA.
In their letter, the IOUs and other stakeholders also urged FERC to issue a final rule that will achieve the commission’s goal of ensuring just and reasonable rates and “remedy[ing] deficiencies in the commission’s existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements.”
Their letter refers to FERC’s ongoing Docket No. RM21–17–000, “Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation and Generator Interconnection,” published in the April 21, 2022 Federal Register.
Specifically, FERC proposes reforms to its existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements, with commissioners saying an expansion of the nation’s grid is critical to bringing new clean energy resources online and to improve reliability amid increasingly severe weather events and wildfires.
“As the commission recognizes, patterns of load, generation, and weather are changing, and the commission’s policies must ensure that transmission planners account for these changes,” the IOUs and other coalition members wrote. “Transmission plans should be structured to identify investments that maximize benefits to customers. State input can and should be incorporated, along with a means of resolving disagreements on cost sharing for transmission plans.”
FERC’s final rule also should require implementation of the proposed right of first refusal provisions to facilitate timely development of needed transmission infrastructure, wrote the utilities and the stakeholders, noting that these provisions are “appropriately tied to collaborative and holistic planning outcomes” that provide clear benefits to customers, such as jointly owned regional projects and portfolios and “right-sized” projects.
Finally, according to their letter, advanced technologies should be considered and included where appropriate, and planning processes should preserve appropriate levels of transparency for impacted stakeholders.
“A weakened rule — that is, any rule that does not include these features — risks falling short of facilitating the grid Americans need,” they concluded. “A robust rule with these features will help grow the economy, keep people safe during extreme weather, and hold electricity bills down.”
Senate Democrats in July, led by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), also urged FERC to enhance and finalize its transmission planning and cost allocation rule, as well as the commission’s federal backstop electric transmission siting authority rule.
If implemented, the Democrats say such policies would allow Americans to have more affordable and reliable clean energy and could supercharge investments in transmission infrastructure.
“The success or failure of this commission will be defined by how they address these critical transmission rules,” Schumer said this summer. “FERC has the authority to quickly deliver a historic advancement in transmission policies, and I urge them to strengthen and finalize these rules expeditiously.”
Democrats want to see the rules finalized by Jan. 1, 2024.
