Leveling the Transmission Playing Field

Featuring:
• [Opening Remarks] Allison Clements, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• [Moderator] Devin Hartman, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy, R Street Institute
• Paul Cicio, President & CEO, Industrial Energy Consumers of America and organizer of the Electric Transmission Competition Coalition
• Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative, Harvard Law School
• Cynthia Bogorad, Attorney to the Transmission Access Policy Study Group, Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP
• Keith Collins, Executive Director of Market Monitoring, Southwest Power Pool

Description:
Inadequacies in electric transmission policy cause cost increases, reliability risks, stifled innovation and suppressed clean energy access. Arguably the top priority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is to fix this, while Congress pursues the issue. At the heart of the matter is a system of local transmission monopolists under a regulatory system that discourages innovators and encourages utilities to spend excessively on the backs of captive ratepayers. Scholars have dubbed this a “protection racket” while consumer groups have called for greater competition—led by the upstart Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition—and inclusive collaboration in transmission development. Extensive reform is necessary to ensure regulatory parity between transmission suppliers and fairness to consumers.

Join us for a conversation on how to level the transmission field, which could create hundreds of billions of dollars in net benefits to consumers and unlock clean energy. Areas to explore include independent transmission planning and oversight, equal rate treatment between suppliers and proper implementation of competitive processes under FERC’s Order 1000.