FERC Transmission Reform: A New Year's Resolution?

4 snips

Jan 9, 2024

Ari Peskoe, from Harvard Law School, dives into FERC's pending transmission reforms, discussing the need for expanded infrastructure, challenges in current planning systems, and legal hurdles expected. Topics include the impact of transmission regulations on clean energy growth, concerns around cost distribution, and the role of state involvement in planning amidst political debates. The podcast explores the complexities of utility decision-making, the importance of stakeholder diversity, and the need for flexibility in reform while addressing legal vulnerabilities and proposals for connectivity improvements in transmission infrastructure.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Challenges and Reforms in US Transmission Infrastructure

01:42 • 18min

Utility Project Decision-Making and State Politics in Transmission Planning

19:50 • 3min

Navigating Flexibility and Standardization in Transmission Reform

23:09 • 2min

Legal Considerations and Long-Term Planning in FERC Transmission Reform

25:18 • 4min

Challenges and Proposals for Improving Connectivity in Transmission Reform

28:54 • 2min

Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard Law School’s Electricity Law Initiative, discusses FERC’s pending reforms to the electric transmission development process in the U.S., and legal challenges they'll likely face.

Description

Nearly two years ago, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed a set of regulatory reforms to speed a much-needed expansion of the nation’s network of long distance electric transmission lines. FERC’s final rules, which are likely to arrive this year, are expected to substantially update the framework under which transmission lines are planned and paid for, and pave the way for the growth of clean energy. Yet FERC’s reforms come at a time when the future of the electric grid has become the focus of fierce partisan debate, and legal challenges to FERC’s proposed rules are expected.

Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard Law School’s Electricity Law Initiative, explores the need for a rapid expansion of the nation’s transmission infrastructure, and why the industry’s existing framework for transmission development has not been able to deliver the necessary pace of development. He discusses FERC’s proposed rules to govern transmission planning and the sharing of transmission costs, and how a final order might endure expected legal challenges.

Ari Peskoe is director of Harvard Law School’s Electricity Law Initiative.

Wholesale Electricity Justice https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/wholesale-electricity-justice/

America’s Electric Power Transmission Crisis (podcast) https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/americas-electric-power-transmission-crisis/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

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