Interregional Transmission Planning Improvement Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1015 To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to initiate a rule- making to reform the interregional transmission planning process, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reform the interregional trans- mission planning process, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Interregional Trans- 4 mission Planning Improvement Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1015.IS S1015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1015 IS SEC. 2. RULEMAKING TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS 1 OF INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION PLAN- 2 NING. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Energy Regu- 5 latory Commission shall initiate a rulemaking address- 6 ing— 7 (1) the effectiveness of existing planning proc- 8 esses for identifying interregional transmission 9 projects that provide economic, reliability, oper- 10 ational, public policy, and environmental benefits 11 (including reductions in carbon emissions), taking 12 into consideration the public interest, the integrity of 13 markets, and the protection of consumers; 14 (2) changes to the processes described in para- 15 graph (1) to ensure that efficient, cost-effective, and 16 broadly beneficial interregional transmission solu- 17 tions are selected for cost allocation, taking into con- 18 sideration— 19 (A) the public interest; 20 (B) the integrity of markets; 21 (C) the protection of consumers; 22 (D) the broad range of economic, reli- 23 ability, operational, public policy, and environ- 24 mental benefits that interregional transmission 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1015.IS S1015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1015 IS provides, including reductions in carbon emis- 1 sions; 2 (E) the need for single projects to secure 3 approvals based on a comprehensive assessment 4 of the multiple benefits provided; 5 (F) that projects that meet interregional 6 benefit criteria should not be subject to subse- 7 quent reassessment by transmission planning 8 authorities; 9 (G) the importance of synchronization of 10 planning processes in neighboring regions, such 11 as using a joint model on a consistent timeline 12 with a single set of needs, input assumptions, 13 and benefit metrics; 14 (H) that evaluation of long-term scenarios 15 should align with the expected life of a trans- 16 mission asset; 17 (I) that transmission planning authorities 18 should allow for the identification and joint 19 evaluation of alternatives proposed by stake- 20 holders; 21 (J) that interregional planning should be 22 done regularly and not less frequently than 23 once every 3 years; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1015.IS S1015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1015 IS (K) the elimination of arbitrary project 1 voltage, size, or cost requirements for inter- 2 regional solutions; and 3 (3) cost allocation methodologies that reflect 4 the multiple benefits provided by interregional trans- 5 mission solutions, including economic, reliability, 6 operational, public policy, and environmental bene- 7 fits (including reductions in carbon emissions). 8 (b) TIMING.—Not later than 18 months after the 9 date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Energy Regu- 10 latory Commission shall promulgate a final rule to com- 11 plete the rulemaking initiated under subsection (a). 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1015.IS S1015 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS