ACORE Statement on FERC Transmission Announcements

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two orders today highlighting FERC’s focus on transmission policy. Following is a statement from Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE):

“We commend FERC for taking these initial steps on transmission policy reform, which is sorely needed to deliver the renewable power Americans want and deserve. By bringing FERC and state regulatory commissioners together on issues of shared jurisdiction, the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission can help identify obstacles and develop solutions for transmission development, and we look forward to seeing its recommendations. Meanwhile, the policy statement on state voluntary agreements to plan and pay for transmission facilities constructively clarifies that states wishing to cut the Gordian knot of transmission planning and cost allocation are able to do so.

“These two actions are down payments on the substantial transmission policy reforms we hope to see later this year. States are important partners in this work, and reforming transmission planning and cost allocation would be the most impactful thing the Commission could do to accelerate the deployment of renewable power necessary to tackle our climate challenge. Ten years after being finalized, not one interregional transmission line has been built using the process established under Order 1000. With more interregional transmission, we can connect centers of high renewable resources with centers of high electric demand, enhancing grid reliability and dramatically reducing carbon emissions.”

##

About ACORE:
For more than 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s premier pan-renewable nonprofit organization. ACORE unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. For more information, please visit www.acore.org.

Media Contact:
Alex Hobson, Vice President of Communications, ACORE
hobson@acore.org | 202.777.7584 (o) | 202.594.0706 (c)