Reply and Post-technical Conference Comments of Acadia Center and Conservation Law Foundation

On November 30, 2021, Acadia Center submitted comments in a Federal Energy Regulation Commission proceeding (Docket RM21-17) to consider whether new federal rules should be developed to govern the nation’s transmission planning. Acadia Center is advocating to realign transmission planning with state policy goals including clean energy policy and environmental justice, to design transmission solutions that get the greatest bang for the buck by meeting multiple needs at once, and to include solutions like energy storage and strategic retirements to help reduce the costs and impacts of transmission infrastructure on New England. Acadia Center also asks the federal government to require more coordination between federal and state decision-makers on transmission siting early in the process of planning grid needs, and to do so in close coordination with the region’s communities, particularly those communities that have been traditionally overburdened by energy impacts.