Power corridor in running for funds
An electric transmission corridor that runs east from Oklahoma and north of Fort Smith before branching into Central and northeast Arkansas — one of 10 such corridors in the United States — is on a list for potential funding to pay for upgrades.
The Department of Energy says new criteria for $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act-appropriated loans could finance the development of high-capacity transmission lines in the designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors. The Department of Energy is seeking public comment.
“At more than a century old, our power grid is showing its age, leaving American consumers to bear the costs of maintaining it with frequent and longer power outages from extreme weather,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration is leveraging every tool to expand transmission and deploy more reliable, affordable, and clean power in every pocket of the nation.”
Arkansans endure chronic power outages because the state’s geography magnifies the effects of severe weather.
Data provided by utilities to the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that Arkansas electricity customers experience more minutes without power per year than customers in neighboring states.
Two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulated regional transmission organizations control the multistate power grids that provide electricity to Arkansas’ utilities, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) in east Arkansas and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) in west Arkansas. Both organizations issued positive statements about possible upgrades to the corridor.
“SPP is anticipating FERC’s action on transmission (this) week. Upon release, we will evaluate the
order, the DOE National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor notice of intent request and other pertinent rulings in coordination with
SPP’s membership and the Regional State Committee. SPP is hopeful these initiatives will align with our strategic goals,” spokeswoman Meghan Sever said in an email. “SPP is excited to continue helping our stakeholders with an expanded transmission system.”
Spokesman Brandon D. Morris said, “MISO appreciates the DOE’s efforts to identify ways to help build new transmission. We are reviewing the details of the announcement but — at a high level — the DOE has identified appropriate locations for new transmission without endorsing or identifying specific projects. The primary objective in transmission planning is to address reliability issues while balancing affordability and considering a range of system conditions.
“Looking to the future, a robust transmission system will allow for economic development through the integration of new load, new power generators to connect to the system and help move power from where it is produced to where it is needed,” Morris said.
Entergy spokeswoman Heather Kendrick said the utility is analyzing the plan.
“New transmission will play an important role in Arkansas and the broader South-Central region as Entergy and others look to integrate new sources of carbon free energy, expand to serve expected economic growth, and ensure the bulk electric system is more resilient in the face of extreme weather events in the future. However, we know that new transmission can be costly, and the financial impact to our customers must be a key consideration,” Kendrick said. “Entergy will carefully evaluate all options for meeting these transmission needs and is constantly working on technical studies in collaboration with our independent system operator, MISO, our state and federal regulators, and all interested stakeholders to ensure these needs are correctly identified and the eventual solutions appropriately balance all the impacts to our customers. Entergy expects to submit comments in response to the proposed (corridor) designations by the June 24 deadline,” she said.
The program originated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enabling the energy secretary to designate corridors in geographic areas where consumers are or will be harmed by the existing infrastructure and where new transmission could do things like increase reliability or reduce costs. Privatepublic partnerships to improve the infrastructure are possible; developers and state and local authorities can use DOE environmental analysis to determine worksites and permitting.
The corridor that runs through Arkansas — the DeltaPlains Corridor — goes through Tulsa to northeastern New Mexico through the Oklahoma Panhandle.
The Department of Energy emphasizes that the DeltaPlains Corridor and the nine other corridors should be viewed as rough approximations. Public comment closes on June 24, and the department anticipates announcing the final list this fall.
“Looking to the future, a robust transmission system will allow for economic development through the integration of new load, new power generators to connect to the system and help move power from where it is produced to where it is needed.”
— Brandon D. Morris