U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chu is considering a
policy change that will affect how electricity transmission lines are sited and
built. Since the dawn of the electric
power industry, states have had the authority over whether the siting of a
given transmission facility should be permitted within their boundaries. That traditional states’ right may be
shifting away to the federal level.
Since the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department has had “backstop”
authority to approve transmission line routes when states fail to issue approvals. In 2007, the
Department of Energy used this authority to designate corridors of highly
congested transmission lines in the mid-Atlantic area (parts of Delaware,
Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia,
and the District of Columbia) and the southwest (parts of southern California
and western Arizona).
Proposed new transmission facilities located within these
designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors can apply to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission for siting approval if a host state does not approve
the project within one year. This could
happen if a state regulatory proceeding drags on for longer than a year, or if
state regulators condition project approvals in a manner that is not “economically
feasible” – both results more likely to happen in connection with larger and more
controversial transmission line projects.
While the Commission initially approved some transmission line siting
applications that had been denied by state regulators, a federal appeals court
held that the Commission lacked authority to approve a project in the face of a
state’s affirmative denial (as opposed to mere regulatory delay).
At issue now is whether the Department of Energy should
delegate its corridor designation function to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. Proponents of the measure
point to the need for increased transmission development, citing the growth of
renewable resources located far from customer loads as well as transmission
congestion; they believe the Commission will be better suited to the task of
studying congestion and designating national corridors than the Department
is. Others oppose this proposed
delegation, noting that Congress specifically divided the corridor designation
and project approval functions between the Department and the Commission, and
that states retain the ultimate rights to deny a siting application. A number of
comments have been submitted to the Department on this proposed delegation.
