Bridging the Gap Between Planning and Permitting

In recent decades, the U.S. has not been able to construct the volume of high-voltage backbone transmission facilities needed to support the country’s move to a ‘greener’ power system. The inability to build sufficient transmission infrastructure thwarts customer demands for a greener power mix.

In this report, we offer perspectives from a range of transmission experts about where the major roadblocks exist, and the latest regulatory and legal changes that promise to bring greater unity between the divergent federal planning and state siting and permitting processes. These changes provide hope that the U.S. can bridge the gaps that have delayed much-needed upgrades to the transmission system.Continue Reading Unlocking U.S. Transmission Upgrades – Are We on the Cusp of Real Progress?

In response to the transformational Inflation Reduction Act, Troutman Pepper has launched Taking Charge: Inside the U.S. Battery Boom, an in-depth report examining the accelerated growth in the U.S. battery storage sector.

We look at how the legislation is creating both opportunity and complexity, as businesses develop and adapt their strategies to navigate the industry’s

At a time of significant industry transformation driven by technological change and spurred on by environmental policy concerns, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) has now added a significant layer to the stack of policy debates – the future of transmission investment.  Many states have seized the initiative in terms of establishing preferable resource mixes for in-state customers, and are spearheading significant pushes for greater renewable and storage resource deployment.  FERC has now joined the fray by opening up the policy debate anew regarding how to spur (or whether to spur) additional transmission sector investment.  The FERC order described below focuses on regulatory and market rules impacting transmission investment (Docket No. PL19-3-000).  The agency also opened a companion docket requesting comments on the details of its policies regarding establishment of a public utility transmission owner’s stated return on equity (“ROE”) (Docket No. PL19-4-000).  The Washington Energy Report will provide detailed summaries of these orders via our blog.  FERC’s mention here of “an increased emphasis on the reliability of transmission infrastructure” (emphasis added) could signal an attempt to re-focus the U.S. Department of Energy’s resiliency concerns to an arena that gives FERC home-field advantage.  Lest the states forget, FERC controls the price of admission for a ticket to the interstate transmission network, and this open-ended fact-finding effort bears a high likelihood of impacting the price of such tickets (for a large portion of the continental United States).
Continue Reading Summary & Insight: Federal Policy Inquiry on Electric Transmission Incentives