20 Oct
For Immediate Release
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011
Contact: Jennifer Mullin
202-292-6973
jmullin@gpgdc.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans for a Clean Energy Grid Senior Advisor Bill White released the following statement today after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) acted to uphold regional agreements:
“FERC’s actions today show a commitment to balanced regional solutions that will drive investments in our aging transmission system. Transmission is the backbone of a competitive and efficient electric system, and electricity is the lifeblood of our economy. The Commission upheld plans developed over months and years by local stakeholders in the Midwestern Independent System Operator (MISO) and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) that spread the costs of transmission to all of those who benefit.
“Both of these plans – SPP’s Highway/Byway method and MISO’s Multi-Value Projects – were created to overcome challenges the regions faced in building transmission to meet reliability needs, growing demand, and the desire to tap into cheaper, cleaner energy sources. They provide sensible ways to pay for electricity infrastructure that benefits broad regions of the country and accounts for pennies on a typical electric bill.
“FERC’s decision today to uphold regional planning practices underscores the importance of its own new planning and cost allocation rule. Order 1000 builds upon progress at the regional level and facilitates a more strategically-planned grid. Ultimately, it will help reform an archaic and bureaucratic system that often protects costly, dirty generation and leaves too many families and businesses with artificially high electricity costs.
“Taking into account the integrated nature of the transmission system – and common sense – FERC and regional planners have reached the same conclusion: stakeholders working cooperatively over broad regions will identify regional transmission solutions that are more cost-effective and beneficial to ratepayers than individual utilities or states could develop on their own.
“We applaud FERC for endorsing regional solutions to planning and paying for high voltage transmission. The MISO and SPP agreements are paving the way toward a more reliable, cheaper and cleaner energy future for all of us.”
Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) is focused on expanding and modernizing the nation’s transmission system to meet America’s growing energy needs and unlock the potential of domestic resources and economic opportunity in every region of the country. ACEG supports smart state and federal policies that will improve the way the grid is developed, planned, and paid for.
ACEG is an initiative of the Energy Future Coalition (EFC) – a broad-based, non-partisan alliance that seeks to bridge the differences among business, labor, and environmental groups and identify energy policy options with broad political support.
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