FERC Aims to Spur More Coordinated Transmission Buildout

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a new
rule to better coordinate the massive buildout of new electric
transmission systems. In this episode of Grid Talk, host Marty
Rosenberg interviews Ari Peskoe who is the director of the
Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School
Environmental and Energy Law Program.


FERC is trying to help pave the way to get a reported 11,000
wind, solar, and battery projects online. Right now, they are in
limbo because of the lack of transmission.


“There are massive amounts of generation, mostly clean
generation, stuck in these interconnection lines or
interconnection queues,” said Peskoe.


In May, FERC issued Order No. 1920 to coordinate information
sharing and transmission buildout. 


“FERC is trying to motivate the industry to develop high-voltage
transmission lines and to work together on that development
through existing regional alliances.”


Peskoe says there have been tens of billions of dollars a year
spent on transmission, but much of it has gone to rebuilding last
century’s infrastructure.


“We need to keep the system working, but we also need to think
about ways to expand it in a cost-effective way.” 


Order No. 1920 urges the industry to be more forward thinking
rather than reacting to these generators on a project-by-project
basis.


“Let’s look at the broader trends, the long-term trends that
we’re seeing, both in the supply mix changes as well as the
potential for increasing demand due to electrification and other
factors and plan wholistically going forward to anticipate the
future needs.” 


Ari Peskoe has written extensively about regulation of the U.S.
power sector, on issues ranging from Constitutional challenges to
states’ energy laws to interstate transmission development. Prior
to the Environmental and Energy Law Program, Ari was an associate
at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where he litigated before the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the Western Energy
Crisis. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and
graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in
electrical engineering and business.