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**Process for the Congestion Study and**

**Designation of NIETCs**

**(EPACT 2005, Sec. 1221)**

***As of 10/13/05***

\[Need better quality DOE Logo\]

**Background:**

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires DOE to issue a national
transmission congestion study for comment by August 2006 and every three
years thereafter. Based on the study and public comments, DOE is to
designate selected geographic areas as "National Interest Electric
Transmission Corridors." Projects proposed relative to designated
corridors and not acted upon by state siting authorities within one year
of application may request FERC to exercise federal "backstop" siting
authority.

**Objective:**

1.  Highlight areas in urgent need of transmission expansion (or
    suitable alternatives) and where federal involvement could have
    beneficial effects

2.  Create an incentive for state and regional planning and siting
    processes to work effectively

**Considerations:**

DOE envisions a process that adds value to existing regional planning
processes, is open and involves stakeholder input. DOE will proceed
cautiously in order to build upon work done by others. DOE anticipates
that the designation and siting authority process will be used
judiciously and in select situations to highlight areas in urgent need
of transmission expansion (or suitable alternatives) and where federal
involvement could have beneficial effects.

The scope of the Congestion Study will be broader then congestion. The
criteria that are outlined in the legislation for DOE to consider
indicate a need for a review that addresses elements beyond congestion.
Additionally, DOE defines a corridor in this context as a geographic
area, as opposed to a specific right-of-way or transmission line

DOE is not mandated to prescribe solutions and as such will not
prescribe a solution to address congestion in any corridor that may be
designated. However, DOE would like to see necessary steps taken by the
States and Regions to address problems in corridors that are designated.
Sec. 1221 does not specify what type of project is to be developed to
address National Interest Transmission Corridors. DOE does not see new
transmission lines as the only solution to fix a congested corridor.
Non-wires solutions exist, such as strategically-sited central and
distributed generation, and demand side options that can also contribute
to relieving a congested corridor.

**Congestion Study Process:**

The legislation requires DOE to issue a national transmission congestion
study for comment by August 2006 and every three years thereafter. DOE
will first publish a Discussion Draft of the Congestion Study for
comment in the Federal Register by the August deadline. After taking
into account the comments DOE will publish a final version.

The Congestion study will include two major parts. The first part is a
review of existing information such as transmission expansion plans and
studies that are available from the coordination councils, regional
transmission operators, independent system operators and utilities. This
review will include a framework to compare the regions. The second part
involves modeling of the Eastern and Western Interconnects (ERCOT is
exempt per the legislation). For the Eastern interconnect... For the
Western Interconnect DOE will collaborate with a team lead by
WECC\...\[Data source and modeling methodology from WECC and CRA\]

To the extent possible DOE will rely on existing regional data sources.
The congestion study will present an inventory of areas of concern.

**Criteria Development Process:**

Building on the guidance provided in the legislation, and the review
process included in the Congestion Study, DOE will develop criteria for
designation through a stakeholder process. First, DOE will host two
technical meetings to solicit input on the criteria. One meeting will be
held in the Eastern Interconnect region and the other will be held in
the Western Interconnect region. Based on the information received in
the meetings DOE will publish a draft set of criteria in the Federal
Register for comment. After reviewing the comments DOE will finalize the
criteria and apply them to the inventory of areas of concern.

**Designation Process:**

The legislation does not provide a deadline for designation. Based on
the final version of the Congestion Study and the criteria that are
developed, DOE will publish a list of proposed corridors being
considered for designation. This list will be published in the Federal
Register for comment on (1) why proposed corridors should or should not
be designated and (2) additional corridors with supporting documentation
for consideration. After taking into account the comments DOE will
publish a final list of designated corridors. DOE recognizes the need
for adequate justification as the basis for making a designation. Thus
DOE will not issue designations without completing a congestion study or
soliciting public input. After the first round of designations, DOE will
update existing designations and designate corridors on an as-needed
basis.

**DOE and FERC Coordination:**

TBD

**Timeline:**

+----+---------------+---------------+----------+----------+----------+
|    | Year 1        | Year 2        | Year 3   | Year 4   | Year 5   |
|    |               |               |          |          |          |
|    | 8/05-8/06     | 8/06-8/07     | 8        | 8        | 8        |
|    |               |               | /07-8/08 | /08-8/09 | /09-8/10 |
+----+---------------+---------------+----------+----------+----------+
| D  | -   DOE       | DOE           | DOE may  | DOE      | DOE may  |
| OE |     conducts  | designates    | update   | issues   | update   |
|    |               | NIETCs by     | existing | second   | existing |
|    |    congestion | applying      | d        | co       | d        |
|    |     analysis  | criteria to   | esignees | ngestion | esignees |
|    |               | areas         | and      | study in | and      |
|    | -             | identified in | d        | August   | d        |
|    |  Concurrently | the           | esignate | 2009     | esignate |
|    |     DOE       | congestion    | ad       |          | ad       |
|    |     develops  | study and     | ditional |          | ditional |
|    |     criteria  | taking into   | NIETCs   |          | NIETCs   |
|    |     for       | account       |          |          |          |
|    |               | public        |          |          |          |
|    |   designation | comments      |          |          |          |
|    |     of NIETCs |               |          |          |          |
+----+---------------+---------------+----------+----------+----------+
| FE | FERC issues   |               | FERC     |          |          |
| RC | rules on      |               | e        |          |          |
|    | submitting    |               | xercises |          |          |
|    | applications  |               | backstop |          |          |
|    | for a permit  |               | siting   |          |          |
|    | to site a     |               | a        |          |          |
|    | project in a  |               | uthority |          |          |
|    | designated    |               | if       |          |          |
|    | corridor      |               | n        |          |          |
|    | (confirm per  |               | ecessary |          |          |
|    | legislation)  |               |          |          |          |
+----+---------------+---------------+----------+----------+----------+

**Updates:**

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**Contact Information:**

Ms. Poonum Agrawal

Manager, Markets and Technical Integration

Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability

U.S. Department of Energy

p: 202-586-6048

e: poonum.agrawal@hq.doe.gov

w: www.electricity.doe.gov/bottlenecks