posted on Friday, March 03, 2006 6:12 PM
by
Tracy Davis
DOE Gears Up to Receive Comments on National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors
Recommendations to the Department of Energy (DOE) on whether and how to designate particular geographic areas exhibiting transmission constraints as National Interest Electric Transmission (NIET) Corridors must be submitted by March 6, 2006. NIET Corridor designations are intended to facilitate the construction of new transmission facilities along these corridors. Section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 gives DOE the authority to conduct a study on transmission congestion and to designate particular geographic areas as NIET Corridors. Once an area is designated as a NIET Corridor, the statute grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitting and siting authority for new transmission lines within the corridor in the event that state and local officials fail or are otherwise unable to act. In particular, this authority is thought to aid transmission projects that would span multiples states, which may have difficulty winning over all affected state and local regulators.
Reportedly among the entities lining up early to advocate NIET designations is the PJM Interconnection, which has announced that it will propose two corridors – one from western Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, and Delaware, and the other from the Ohio Valley through West Virginia and to the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area. If DOE agrees, companies will then be free to ask FERC for authority to build new transmission facilities along these corridors, assuming the necessary approvals are not forthcoming from state and local officials. Even if DOE fails to designate the requested corridors on an accelerated basis, either corridor could be designated a NIET Corridor as part of DOE's standard study process. While the timing difference may be only a matter of months, early designation is obviously attractive to fledgling transmission projects looking for investment.