States’ Interregional Transmission Efforts Examined

The American Council on Renewable Energy hosted “Powering Progress: States Leading on Transmission Collaboration” to examine the outcome of past multistate efforts and the drive for further collaboration. 

ACORE’s Kevin O’Rourke was joined by Silverman, an assistant research scholar with the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University; Anya Poplavska, senior policy advocate at the Acadia Center; and Beth Soholt, executive director of the Clean Grid Alliance.

Poplavska spoke about the Northeast Grid Planning Forum, convened by the Acadia Center and Nergica to lay the groundwork for collaboration to meet what is projected to be a 100% increase in power demand over the next quarter century – and to loop in neighboring parts of Canada, which has a deep and long-standing infrastructure connection with the U.S. Northeast.

There is only piecemeal and fragmented decision-making now, she said. “And [the forum is] really born of the synergies between Canada and the Northeastern states. The whole point of it is to really create a framework across these different regions that facilitates planning, coordination and decision making.”

Poplavska identified three steps in the process: identification of needs; design and selection of projects; and, most difficult of all, allocation of costs.

“How are costs going to be borne across different regions?” she said. “I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this is a hige limitation and reason that interregional projects just don’t get pursued as much.”

To read the full article from RTO Insider, click here.