Commissioner Suedeen Kelly appeared to suggest yesterday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission doesn't need any new authority, after all, to push transmission buildout. FERC has asked for much stronger permitting power and Congress is considering it; the 4th Circuit US Court of Appeals has rebuffed FERC's effort to get power to override states' denial of transmission projects (see previous post.) But Kelly said at the Deloitte Energy Conference that the commission may have enough authority already to leverage public and policymaker desires for green energy and economic development, and "the problem child of transmission might be able to be addressed."
FERC has its Order 890, which upgraded its earlier Order 888, the open-access transmission rule. 890 affirmed the obligation of transmission providers to develop and participate in a coordinated, open and transparent planning process, and required utilities to engage in regional planning. Kelly suggested this authority could be exercised more strongly, requiring more broad-based planning -- possibly as far as interconnection-wide.
If planning is tough, allocating costs for new lines is tougher. She acknowledged that, but noted the question is how you define "benefits." If the "beneficiary pays," as the traditional formula goes, then redefining benefits to include things like system reliability and other goals would spread the costs more widely. If FERC is willing, it could push its existing authority enough to accomplish its stated commitment "to having the transmission built to enable the generation that utilities want to be developed to get to market."
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