Western U.S. States Must Incorporate "Their Best Practices" Into a Regional Transmission Siting Regime, New Report Says

A regional approach to transmission siting "will facilitate the development and transmission of renewable energy to meet the demands of ever-growing western urban areas and to secure robust interconnections with the national transmission grid" according to two western-U.S. based energy experts.

Mark A. Davidson, a partner at the Denver office of Holland & Hart, and James A. Holtkamp, a partner at the Salt Lake City office of Holland & Hart, have prepared a new report "Transmission Siting in the Western United States: Overview and Recommendations Prepared as Information to the Western Interstate Energy Board", which says that "to assure that the necessary infrastructure [to delivery renewable energy to load centers] is developed, the states in the West will need to incorporate their best practices into a regional transmission siting regime."

Today transmission siting regulatory schemes differ from state-to-state. "Current state siting regimes reflect a system largely built to move power within local utility systems and to connect neighboring utilities to increase reliability," the authors write. However, "These regimes were not designed to address interstate and regional transmission siting on the scale required today."

After the report, which was published in mid-August, reviews the transmission siting regulatory requirements in 11 western states including Arizona, California, Colorado, and Washington, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Holtkamp offer eight "best practices" that could underpin a scheme based on regional siting. Among the best practices include:

• A centralized siting agency with jurisdiction over transmission projects proposed by an entity (whether a regulated utility or not)
• A definition of "need" that recognizes the critical public interest in the efficient and reliable transmission of electricity from a diverse generation portfolio in one part of the region to growing load centers in another, even if neither the loads to be served or the generator are located within the same state
• A level regulatory playing playing field that does not favor investor-owned utilities or any other entities to the detriment of other developers of transmission

Anyone interested in the development of renewable energy needs to look closely at transmission-related issues. This report provides an insightful and timely look at what those transmission-related issues are in the western U.S., and then goes on to provide some ideas for how to improve transmission in the West. It should be read by everyone interested in renewable energy since the matters of renewable generation and transmission are inseparable.

Messieurs Davidson and Mr. Holtkamp have carefully prepared an excellent primer and solutions-oriented report on the challenges and opportunities associated with new transmission in the West. Their work should be the basis of a robust and considered discussion about how to improve a state-by-state regulatory system that is simply not up to the task of delivering a 21st century transmission system. These two gentlemen are pointing the way forward. Let's hope the policymakers are listening.