DATA Coalition Commends FERC Focus on Proactive Regional Transmission Planning

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May 17, 2022, 09:20 ET

Recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will Benefit Communities Across the United States by Removing Regulatory Barriers to Transmission Investment

NOVI, Mich., May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the Developers Advocating Transmission Advancements (DATA) Coalition, ITC Holdings Corp. along with Ameren, Eversource Energy, Exelon Corporation, National Grid USA, Public Service Electric and Gas Company and Xcel Energy announces today a message of support to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR).

Bolstering our energy grid through smart investments in transmission infrastructure designed and constructed by incumbent utilities – those with a long track record of reliable performance, local success, and long-term stewardship of the system – will have tremendous benefits for our nation. The DATA coalition, a group of incumbent investor-owned utilities focused on cost-effective transmission development, commends FERC's focus on proactive regional transmission planning in the April 21 NOPR. In issuing this NOPR, FERC has taken a key step to address the need for cost-effective transmission investment to support a reliable, resilient, and clean energy future. The recent FERC-NARUC Joint Task Force meeting on queue reform further highlighted the need for proactive, scenario-based transmission planning to help facilitate the evolving generation mix. The Commission's NOPR appropriately focuses on addressing this need.

The DATA coalition applauds the Commission's action in issuing a proposed rule that recognizes the strong role incumbent utilities must play to modernize our nation's electric grid, drive economic growth, and lower the cost of delivered energy while being attentive to local concerns that these utilities best understand. With lead times for large-scale transmission projects spanning several years, there is overwhelming support from both the public and private sectors to act now and address the bottlenecks threatening our path to a more resilient, reliable grid and a cleaner energy future.

Members of the DATA coalition are among the nation's utilities that have led the way in committing to net-zero carbon goals by mid-century or earlier. Achieving those goals will require the construction of well-planned local, regional, and interregional transmission infrastructure, which will more than pay for itself by providing significant and diverse benefits to customers while helping to achieve private and public policy objectives. DATA members are poised and well-positioned to leverage local experience and relationships and existing land rights to cost-effectively build transmission in a way that minimizes impacts to both communities and the environment. We are encouraged that the proposed rule recognizes and attempts to address the delays and added cost associated with Order No. 1000's elimination of the federal right of first refusal for regional transmission projects. DATA members look forward to the next steps in the rulemaking process.

ABOUT ITC HOLDINGS CORP.
ITC Holdings Corp. is the largest independent electricity transmission company in the United States. ITC provides transmission grid solutions to improve reliability, expand access to markets, allow new generating resources to interconnect to its systems and lower the overall cost of delivered energy. Through its regulated operating subsidiaries ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and ITC Great Plains, ITC owns and operates high-voltage transmission infrastructure in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and in development in Wisconsin. These systems serve a combined peak load exceeding 26,000 megawatts along 16,000 circuit miles of transmission line, supported by 700 employees and 1,000 contractors.