Dive Brief:
- Without meaningful transmission planning reform, the U.S. electric grid faces higher costs, slower asset delivery and rising reliability and resilience risks, a task force convened by the Energy Systems Integration Group said in a report last month.
- The task force urged transmission planners to follow the “longer‑range, multi‑driver, scenario‑based strategies” laid out in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Orders 1920 and 1920A, which the regulator expects transmission system operators to comply with over the next two years.
- System operators should start with three priorities, the task force said: integrate grid operations and planning, sync generator and large load interconnection with long-range planning and tie asset-management programs with long-range planning.
Dive Insight:
Permitting reform appears to have hit a wall after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last month with bipartisan support. Its chances of making it through the Senate were already slim, and Democrats pulled out of negotiations after the Trump administration froze construction on all offshore wind projects.
James Okullo, ESIG’s director of system planning, said in an email that the challenges to reform in Congress underscore the need for planners to consult with state officials early and often. The task force’s report also recommends breaking down “silos” that impede thoughtful, efficient long-range planning.
Okullo said a collaborative approach “reduces the chance of late-stage surprises, which helps projects move with fewer stops and starts.”
“When states are involved early in identifying needs, shaping scenarios, and working with the [transmission operator] on solution options, you build alignment earlier and end up with a clearer record of why projects are needed,” he said.
For example, Okullo said state input “helped build that shared record early” as the Midcontinent Independent System Operator developed its Multi-Value Project and Long-Range Transmission Planning tranches.
The report comes amid concerns over the pace of building new transmission infrastructure.
The U.S. added about 1,600 miles of high-voltage transmission in 2024, compared to nearly 3,300 miles in 2013, according to data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In a report published last year, Americans for a Clean Energy Grid and Grid Strategies said the slowdown threatens not only grid reliability but also the growth of domestic industries like artificial intelligence software and semiconductor manufacturing that are fueling the economy and load growth forecasts.
Meeting expected load growth while mitigating cost increases for utility customers requires a new approach to transmission planning, the ESIG task force said in its report.
Meaningful reform ensures faster and more predictable generator and load interconnection, a steadier buildout of “multi-benefit” high-voltage lines and fewer “serial mitigations and rework” caused by near-term system updates that don’t adequately account for long-term needs.
Those long-term needs are inherently uncertain, Ahmed Rashwan, who led the task force behind the report, said in an email.
The task force urged transmission planners to build “optionality” into long-range planning and develop “a decision timeline for needs” to ensure reliability as the system evolves, said Rashwan, senior director of transmission planning and operations with energy system consultancy Electric Power Engineers’ utility team.
Rashwan presented a hypothetical transmission-planning scenario that determined a new 500-kV circuit would be needed within 15 years to handle new generation and load on a particular corridor. In the meantime, he said, an uprate would suffice in year five and a 230-kV upgrade in year 10.
To avoid overbuilding in the near term, Rashwan said the operator could approve the uprate today and monitor for “approximately seven years [until] a decision needs to be made around the 230-kV circuit.” If the corridor appears on track to require a 500-kV circuit in year 15, the operator could approve a new circuit “to be built to 500-kV spec, but …operated at 230 kV” for now.
“While this represents an incremental investment, it’s scalable should the 500-kV need transpire,” he said.
For system needs that may arise before the operator can commission new circuits or other significant infrastructure upgrades, Rashwan said grid-enhancing technologies or energy storage facilities could defer or even eliminate the need for more costly and time-consuming upgrades. In considering energy-storage deployments, planners would ideally run a probabilistic analysis to determine whether the asset would be ready in time to meet the need, he added.
