What is the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission and what is the purpose of this Task Force?
This Task Force was established on June 17, 2021, Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission, 175 FERC ¶ 61,224 (2021) (Establishing Order), pursuant to section 209(b) of the Federal Power Act, which authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission or FERC) to confer with state commissions, including through joint hearings, “regarding the relationship between rate structures, costs, accounts, charges, practices, classifications, and regulations of public utilities subject to the jurisdiction” of such state commissions and FERC.
The purpose of this Task Force is to jointly explore transmission-related issues in order to secure the benefits that transmission can provide. Developing new transmission infrastructure implicates a host of different issues, including how to plan and pay for these facilities. Federal and state regulators each have authority over transmission-related issues, meaning that transmission developers must successfully navigate different federal and state regulatory processes. In addition, the development of new transmission infrastructure often affects numerous different priorities of federal and state regulators (e.g., reliability, customer protection, environmental considerations). As a result, the area is ripe for greater federal-state coordination and cooperation.
What will the Task Force discuss?
The Task Force will focus on topics related to efficiently and fairly planning and paying for transmission, including transmission to facilitate generator interconnection, that provides benefits from a federal and state perspective. Topics that the Task Force may consider include the following:
- Identifying barriers that inhibit planning and development of optimal transmission necessary to achieve federal and state policy goals, as well as potential solutions to those barriers;
- Exploring potential bases for one or more states to use FERC-jurisdictional transmission planning processes to advance their policy goals, including multistate goals;
- Exploring opportunities for states to voluntarily coordinate in order to identify, plan, and develop regional transmission solutions;
- Reviewing FERC rules and regulations regarding planning and cost allocation of transmission projects and potentially identifying recommendations for reforms;
- Examining barriers to the efficient and expeditious interconnection of new resources through the FERC-jurisdictional interconnection processes, as well as potential solutions to those barriers; and
- Discussing mechanisms to ensure that transmission investment is cost effective, including approaches to enhance transparency and improve oversight of transmission investment including, potentially, through enhanced federal-state coordination.
What will be the outcomes of the Task Force? Will FERC take specific action based on Task Force discussions?
The Task Force will convene for multiple formal meetings annually. The initial public meeting of the Task Force will be held on November 10, 2021. The Task Force has the authority to examine several identified issues, including soliciting oral and written input from interested parties. The Task Force may make recommendations to FERC on potential modifications to FERC’s regulations, present recommendations at a monthly FERC open meeting, and develop a record to be incorporated into FERC and/or state commission proceedings.
Who will decide the agenda for each Task Force meeting? Who can provide input into the agenda?
The agenda for each Task Force meeting will be established with input from all Task Force members. Also, all state commissions and interested parties will be invited to suggest agenda topics for public meetings of the Task Force.
Will the states represented by the 10 state commissioner representatives be the only states represented on the Task Force? How can other state commissions participate in the Task Force?
In order to ensure the Task Force captures the diverse views of transmission-related matters from across the country, FERC requested that NARUC nominate two state commissioner representatives from each NARUC region. In the Establishing Order, FERC explicitly recognized “that transmission-related issues may be viewed differently not only within, but also among different parts of the country.” In order to directly participate, all state commissions will be invited to suggest agenda topics for public meetings of the Task Force. Task Force meetings will be open to the public to listen and observe. Finally, interested Parties can submit comments into the docket (AD21-15) at any time.
How were the state commissioner representatives on the Task Force selected?
In the Establishing Order, FERC solicited nominations for 10 state commissioner representatives for the Task Force from NARUC and requested that two nominees originate from each NARUC region. NARUC submitted the list of nominations on July 19, 2021, in the Task Force FERC docket (AD21-15). FERC issued an order on August 30, 2021 listing the state commissioner representatives and establishing the time and place of the first Task Force meeting.
How can the public and other stakeholders not represented by the state commissioner representatives participate in the Task Force?
In order to ensure that the Task Force is capturing the diverse views of transmission-related matters from across the country, the Commission requested that there be two state commissioner representatives from each NAURC region. The NARUC regional associations can be found here.
Additionally, any interested party may observe the public meetings of the Task Force and submit comments in the Task Force FERC docket (AD21-15). These submissions may be incorporated into state commission proceedings or made part of a record that the Task Force has been given the authority to develop, as noted in the Establishing Order. Additionally, in an order on August 30, 2021, the Commission solicited input from interested parties into the agenda for the first Task Force meeting.
Will the Task Force provide input into the FERC Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR), Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation and Generator Interconnection (Docket No. RM21-17)?
The Task Force is welcome and encouraged to consider all matters raised in the ANOPR. The agenda for each Task Force meeting will be established with input from all Task Force members and may include matters raised in the ANOPR. Also, all state commissions will be invited to suggest agenda topics for public meetings of the Task Force.
