Solar, storage industry calls for stronger planning rules as FERC considers transmission reforms
In response to proposed transmission reforms from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), comments from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) filed last week indicated an industry ready for stronger transmission planning rules to address the changing energy mix.
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proposed rule to reform the transmission planning process is a good first step, but to be effective and meet the clean energy boom that’s around the corner, FERC must put more prescriptive rules in place for transmission planning,” Sean Gallagher, vice president of state and regulatory affairs at the SEIA, said. “While flexibility is helpful in some instances, FERC’s proposed rules are too permissive and don’t require utilities to incorporate the full range of factors affecting their transmission plans. Without bold policies, we will be missing out on a major opportunity to adequately prepare for surging clean energy demand.”
Among the issues the proposed rulemaking seeks to address is the decline of regionally planned transmission. The Commission noted a distinct lack of long-term, comprehensive transmission planning, resulting in an incrementally built grid reliant on the generator interconnection process to build large-scale transmission network upgrades. In its comments, the SEIA claimed that the resulting regional transmission planning and cost allocation policies caused preferential, unjust, unreasonable, and unduly discriminatory jurisdictional rates.
“SEIA recommended a number of changes to the proposed rule, including requirements for transmission providers to take into consideration factors that drive clean energy supply and demand,” Gallagher said. “This could include state, municipal, and corporate clean energy goals, power plant closure announcements, interconnection requests that are nearly complete, and other items that would directly affect clean energy growth. In addition, SEIA recommended that transmission planning scenarios extend to 40 years, which would better reflect the full range of long-term benefits transmission facilities and lines can provide to the grid and surrounding communities over the lifetime of these assets.”
Regulators at FERC called for transmission providers to extend transmission planning to no less than 20 years and update those scenarios at least once every three years, develop at least four long-term scenarios based on the best available data, incorporate Commission-identified categories of factors that could affect transmission, and contemplate identifying geographic zones with potential for development of large amounts of new generation, among other things. SEIA generally agreed and urged FERC to adopt all 12 benefits it has proposed and to add in the measurement of emission reductions to further the fight against climate change.
