New rules to upgrade nation’s power grids
Electricity transmission system could boost Texas wind, solar generation
WASHINGTON — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved Monday to overhaul the nation’s transmission system, limiting states’ authority to block long-distance power lines and potentially enabling remote wind and solar farms in West Texas and the Panhandle to more easily move electricity around the country.
Under draft regulations approved by FERC, the commission will be able to overrule state objections to often unpopular transmission projects within designated corridors deemed necessary to the stability of the nation’s power grid. FERC also ordered power utilities and state utility commissions to undertake a more comprehensive planning process when it comes to transmission, looking ahead 20 years to avoid the construction of “piecemeal transmission expansion addressing near-term needs.”
The Texas power grid, which does not cross state lines and is not subject to most FERC rules, would be exempted from the order, though it can send and receive power from neighboring grids.
The decision follows authority Congress granted to FERC in 2021 to speed up the development of transmission projects, which are routinely held up for years by litigation, state environmental reviews and federal bureaucracy. FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, a Democrat appointed by President Joe Biden, called the orders “milestones” in the nation’s effort to modernize a power grid that is under stress from rising power demand, the retirement of old fossil and nuclear plants and more extreme weather events.
“Our grid is being tested like never before and without significant action we won’t be able to keep the lights on,” Phillips said. “Failing to act is not an option.”
Biden came into office more than three years ago calling for a historic modernization of the power grid, allowing the movement of clean electricity from wind and solar farms around the country and the broader electrification of the U.S. economy.
But the administration so far has struggled to make much progress in building out the network. While Congress passed billions of dollars in funding for grid expansion, it remains deadlocked around what to do about a permitting system under which long-distance transmission line projects can wait a decade or more for
approval.
American Clean Power, which represents solar and wind power developers, reported last year that high-voltage power line construction declined to 675 miles in 2022, which it called a record low.
Past efforts by FERC to speed up grid modernization have had limited impact. And while allowing FERC to override states’ permitting authority might help along some interstate transmission projects, developers might be weary of defying state utility commissions that control how much ratepayers contribute to transmission projects, said Rob Gramlich, president of the consulting firm Grid Strategies.
“There really is plenty of capital available and interested in transmission. The problem is you get your money through a regulatory process and we don’t have a functioning regulatory system right now,” he said.
FERC embarked on a study of existing policies around the development of transmission lines in 2021 to look for ways to accommodate the shift from centralized power plants close to population centers to more remote wind and solar farms.
But it has seen pushback from state officials, who are worried that the new rules will limit their long-established authority to block projects that are often opposed by residents in the areas through which transmission lines are slated to be built.
Commissioner Mark Christie, a Republican who voted Monday against the order to force states to begin long-term transmission planning, said FERC was forcing states to conform with clean power plans that would likely raise power costs on consumers.
“This order is a pretext to a sweeping policy agenda Congress never passed to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth to wind and solar developers and influential corporations with a preference on the type of power they want to buy,” he said.
The orders come as FERC is trying to manage the rapid retirement of coal and nuclear generation, threatening the stability of the power grid, industry and government officials have warned.
Power companies want to replace that lost generation with wind and solar farms, along with more natural gas plants and advanced nuclear reactors, as they try to get the grid to net zero emissions. But for now, they are constrained by a transmission system that is frequently overloaded, forcing wind and solar farms to curtail generation.
A study by Princeton University in 2020 forecast that the United States would need to increase the size of its transmission system 60% by 2030 and potentially 300% by 2050 in order to meet its climate goals.
Former FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee, a Republican appointed by former President Donald Trump, praised the rule as addressing a longstanding problem that he himself had considered taking on before he left the commission in 2021.
“Had we taken it on I think it would have looked pretty similar to what came through today,” he said. “These are thorny issues. Sometimes it takes bold leadership to move the needle.”