Jurisdictional Public Utility Transmission Providers (TP) filed earlier this week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) inter-regional plans for the efficient and economical coordination of the construction and financing of high-voltage electricity transmission lines pursuant to FERC Order 1000. The inter-regional plans are to address state and regional needs and policies, such as renewable portfolio standards, and are sure to determine how transmission is financed and how both transmission lines and new electric generation are sited. Once approved by FERC the plans are to be incorporated in the open-access transmission tariffs (OATT) of the plan's author —either the public utility or, in regions where they exist, the regional transmission organization or independent system operator.
TPs submitted regional plans to FERC last October. In the new inter-regional plans, neighboring TPs in separate regions are required to detail in their plans and procedures for coordinating transmission siting. In particular, Order 1000 demands procedures for:
- Coordinating and sharing the results of each region's regional transmission plans to identify possible inter-regional transmission facilities that could address transmission needs more efficiently or cost-effectively than separate regional transmission facilities;
- Identifying and jointly evaluating transmission facilities that are proposed to be located in neighboring transmission planning regions;
- Exchanging annually planning data and information;
- Disseminating to the public information on inter-regional transmission coordination procedures by maintaining a website or email list;
- Adding to each TP's OATT language describing the inter-regional transmission coordination procedures; and
- Adopting inter-regional cost allocation of the costs of new inter-regional transmission.
Order 1000 instructs that the inter-regional cost allocation methodology allocate costs only to regions hosting the transmission and do so only in amounts "roughly commensurate" with the estimated benefits each transmission planning region receives from the lines. Insofar as a benefit-to-cost threshold is used to determine regional allocation, Order 1000 directs that the threshold not exceed a ratio of 1.25 without Commission approval.
The inter-regional plans, requiring all potential stakeholders to participate in evaluating future infrastructure additions to more efficiently site expansion, continue a decade of FERC policy initiatives aimed at creating an inclusive electricity grid. Not every TP has yet submitted its inter-regional plans, as FERC granted 120 day extensions to the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP), the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO), and NorthWestern Corporation. Upcoming blog posts will focus on specific inter-regional plans.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.