A new report by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) makes the case that the speed of transmission development often is commensurate with the level of trust that has been built with communities affected by the project.

Released Jan. 15, “The PACE of Trust” lays out a framework for engaging communities during the development of transmission lines in order to ensure the industry can expand the infrastructure on time. The “PACE” framework organizes best practices to four core topics:

• • Participation and engagement of communities.
  • Accountability and good governance.
  • Communication, transparency and trust.
  • Economic and noneconomic benefits.

The report was prepared alongside DNV, which convened a roundtable with ACEG and representatives from agriculture, environmental advocacy, labor, indigenous communities and transmission developers, among others. Through group meetings, surveys and individual interviews, DNV gathered and refined best practices based on the consensus of the roundtable.

“The PACE framework serves as a guide for developers, policymakers and communities to work together in advancing transmission projects,” ACEG Executive Director Christina Hayes said in a statement. “By adopting these best practices and recommendations, transmission planners can support earlier and more effective community engagement, resulting in an energy grid that meets the needs of our communities.”

The first group of recommendations, participation and engagement of communities, involves utilities doing early, ongoing and consistent engagement and fostering representation of broader community interests in decision-making.

Accountability and good governance involves creating a safe forum for gaining representative knowledge and feedback, along with supporting mutual understanding in community benefit plans and agreements. The best practices include streamlined negotiations and enabling local communities to engage in the transmission planning process early.

The third bucket includes providing all parties with accurate and timely information, empowering communities to provide informed feedback, enabling developers to anticipate community needs, addressing feedback and allowing open communication.

The last topic involves community benefit plans and agreements; providing equitable and responsive financial and resource support; and local workforce development.

The report follows a similar one released by ACEG in September that focused on the best practices for state policymakers. (See ACEG Report Lays out Best Practices for States to Build Transmission.)

Local Workforce Development Tricky

The roundtable participants did not come to a consensus on everything, however; they deferred on three areas: pathways to enable workforce development, balancing local and union hiring and training, and forging bipartisan partnerships. Local workforce development is a key priority for affected communities, but it is hard for developers to make that happen given the specialized labor required to build transmission lines, the report says.

The report includes some more specific policy recommendations, such as setting up offices of public participation (like the one at FERC) for all of the regional planning entities. The industry also should facilitate a national roundtable to explore challenges of targeted hiring and local workforce development, it says.

The public should get notice when regional planners are working on large projects, especially when that involves a portfolio of projects, the report recommends. The planning process should include working groups that include representatives from local communities, and it should consider a program that funds local workforce development.

On transmission routing, planning processes should identify route-specific environmental mitigation measures, and routing should start at least a year before a formal siting process — possibly even more for the most complex projects.

“Expanding and modernizing the transmission grid is essential to achieve climate goals and mitigate the effects of climate change,” Richard Barnes, DNV region president for energy systems in North America, said in a statement. DNV “forecasts an almost fully decarbonized electricity grid by 2050, but this will not be possible without transmission infrastructure that can manage the influx of renewable energy. Community support for transmission projects is essential, and the best practices outlined in this report will enable the necessary project development now and in the future.”