U.S. Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.) have introduced the Streamlining Powerlines Essential to Electric Demand (SPEED) and Reliability Act, which is meant to speed up the siting and permitting of transmission lines.
“We cannot wait a decade-plus for individual transmission lines to be approved if we don’t want to fall behind China and our adversaries,” Peters said in a Sept. 26 statement. “This bill will lower costs for consumers, improve reliability and help secure America’s energy independence.”
The bill would alter the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) program, which allows the Department of Energy and FERC to work together to designate transmission corridors that grant the commission backstop siting authority for lines inside them. The process was created in 2005 and updated during the Biden administration, which led to FERC Order 1977, but not one line has been built using it.
The SPEED and Reliability Act would remove the ability of the Secretary of Energy to designate corridors and also would centralize environmental reviews at FERC and include additional guardrails to protect customers, benefit local communities and respect state authority.
FERC could issue construction permits for individual NIETC lines that reduce grid congestion, improve reliability, and offer customers clear economic and reliability benefits.
The reliability benefits would include facilitating compliance with mandatory reliability standards, cutting the risk of lost load and facilitating compliance with resource adequacy requirements on file with FERC, or offering similar material improvements such as lower outage risks as achieved through increased geographic or resource diversification.
The bill includes protections for consumers by allocating costs to beneficiaries only. Customers who get no, or just trivial, benefits could not be involuntarily allocated costs from NIETC lines under the bill, though nothing prevents utilities from seeking voluntary agreements with customers on cost allocation.
The bill specifically pre-empts the siting and cost allocation for lines that go into ERCOT’s territory. It would preserve current law by ensuring states have at least one year to respond to applications before firms can seek approval from FERC. And it would mandate that FERC engage with states, tribes and private property owners throughout the process.
The bill would apply to any transmission lines at 100 kV or above that would ship power for interstate commerce, including those on the Outer Continental Shelf, or foreign commerce.
The two congressmen’s offices said the bill would help cut costs for customers through lower congestion and improved reliability/transfer capability during extreme weather events.
The bill also would help with economic development, as industries like artificial intelligence and microchip manufacturing lead to higher demand, with transmission enabling more development across the country including rural areas, they said.
“AI data centers and advanced manufacturing are at the core of America’s economic future, but they can’t run without reliable, affordable power,” Barr said in a statement. “The SPEED and Reliability Act cuts red tape and builds the transmission lines we need to lower costs and ensure we stay ahead of China in the race for AI.”
