II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5405 

To amend the Federal Power Act to establish an Office of Transmission 

in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 2, 2024 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to establish an Office 

of Transmission in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Office of Transmission 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF TRANSMISSION. 

7 Part III of the Federal Power Act is amended by in8 serting after section 317 (16 U.S.C. 825p) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 318. OFFICE OF TRANSMISSION. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

4 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

5 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

6 the Director of the Office described in subsection 

7 (c). 

8 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY RE9 SOURCE.—The term ‘distributed renewable energy 

10 resource’ means any non-bulk, renewable energy sys11 tem resource, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) small-scale solar, wind, geothermal, 

13 or energy storage projects connected at the dis14 tribution level and serving on-site energy de15 mand; 

16 ‘‘(B) community-based solar or energy 

17 storage projects located in or very near the cus18 tomers served by the projects; and 

19 ‘‘(C) microgrids or generators powered by 

20 renewable energy. 

21 ‘‘(4) ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘energy bur22 den’ has the meaning given the term in section 2603 

23 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 

24 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8622). 


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1 ‘‘(5) INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION FACIL2 ITY.—The term ‘interregional transmission facility’ 

3 means a transmission facility that— 

4 ‘‘(A) is located within 2 or more neigh5 boring Transmission Planning Regions; and 

6 ‘‘(B) significantly impacts the ability of 1 

7 or more Transmission Planning Regions to 

8 transmit electric energy among neighboring 

9 Transmission Planning Regions. 

10 ‘‘(6) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of11 fice of Transmission established under subsection 

12 (b). 

13 ‘‘(7) PUBLIC INTEREST STAKEHOLDER.—The 

14 term ‘public interest stakeholder’ means an indi15 vidual or entity impacted by the electric grid or 

16 working to improve transmission planning and out17 comes with respect to reducing consumer costs, im18 proving reliability and resilience, advancing clean en19 ergy, reducing energy burden, creating and retaining 

20 good-paying union jobs, reducing local pollution, or 

21 reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including— 

22 ‘‘(A) a resident; 

23 ‘‘(B) a worker; 

24 ‘‘(C) a labor union; 

25 ‘‘(D) a consumer advocacy organization; or 


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1 ‘‘(E) a nonprofit organization representing 

2 residents or workers. 

3 ‘‘(8) TRANSMISSION PLANNING REGION.—The 

4 term ‘Transmission Planning Region’— 

5 ‘‘(A) when used in a geographical sense, 

6 means a region for which the Commission de7 termines that electric transmission planning is 

8 appropriate, such as a region established in ac9 cordance with Order No. 1000 of the Commis10 sion, entitled ‘Transmission Planning and Cost 

11 Allocation by Transmission Owning and Oper12 ating Public Utilities’ (76 Fed. Reg. 49842 

13 (August 11, 2011)); and 

14 ‘‘(B) when used in a corporate sense, 

15 means the Transmission Organization or other 

16 entity responsible for planning or operating 

17 electric transmission facilities within a region 

18 described in subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established 

21 in the Commission an office, to be known as the ‘Of22 fice of Transmission’. 

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The Office shall be es24 tablished not later than 1 year after the date of en25 actment of the Office of Transmission Act of 2024. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be administered by 

2 a Director, who shall be appointed by the Chairman of 

3 the Commission. 

4 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The Office shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) provide independent review and oversight 

6 of transmission planning and operation at each 

7 Transmission Planning Region subject to the juris8 diction of the Commission to ensure robust, forward9 looking, and transparent planning, including by— 

10 ‘‘(A) reviewing— 

11 ‘‘(i) inputs, assumptions, and mod12 eling relevant to transmission planning and 

13 operation; 

14 ‘‘(ii) regional, interregional, and local 

15 transmission plans and planning processes, 

16 including asset condition projects; 

17 ‘‘(iii) the consistency of transmission 

18 plans with local, State, Federal, and Tribal 

19 public policies; 

20 ‘‘(iv) transmission outcomes, as com21 pared to— 

22 ‘‘(I) the plans reviewed and any 

23 findings made under clause (ii); and 

24 ‘‘(II) any findings made under 

25 subparagraph (B)(ii); and 


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1 ‘‘(v) stakeholder engagement; 

2 ‘‘(B) identifying inefficiencies in trans3 mission planning and outcomes, including inef4 ficiencies that— 

5 ‘‘(i) may lead to— 

6 ‘‘(I) unjust and unreasonable 

7 rates; 

8 ‘‘(II) undue discrimination; 

9 ‘‘(III) delaying or preventing the 

10 integration of new renewable energy; 

11 ‘‘(IV) undue burdens on house12 holds with a high energy burden; 

13 ‘‘(V) undue burdens on sensitive 

14 environmental areas and cultural her15 itage sites; or 

16 ‘‘(VI) reliability concerns, includ17 ing the ability to maintain 

18 functionality during extreme weather 

19 and wildfire scenarios, in coordination 

20 with the Electric Reliability Organiza21 tion (as defined in section 215(a)); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) could be addressed by— 


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1 ‘‘(I) updated, best-available, and 

2 science-based data, including on cost 

3 and reliability; 

4 ‘‘(II) forward-looking trans5 mission and interconnection planning; 

6 ‘‘(III) advanced transmission 

7 technologies (as defined in section 

8 1223(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 

9 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16422(a))); 

10 ‘‘(IV) transmission facilities, in11 cluding regional and interregional 

12 transmission facilities; 

13 ‘‘(V) distributed renewable en14 ergy resources; 

15 ‘‘(VI) weatherization and energy 

16 efficiency; 

17 ‘‘(VII) demand-response tech18 nologies; or 

19 ‘‘(VIII) other process and market 

20 enhancements, including those based 

21 on practices from other Transmission 

22 Planning Regions; and 

23 ‘‘(C) tracking estimated and actual project 

24 costs and verifying benefits and commitments 

25 derived from— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any competitive solicitation proc2 ess; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) capital investments that trans4 mission owners propose for existing assets 

5 identified as being at the end of their use6 ful lives or needing replacement due to 

7 damage; 

8 ‘‘(2) provide technical assistance to Trans9 mission Planning Regions to improve transmission 

10 planning, outcomes, and rates prior to publication or 

11 filing with the Commission, including by supporting 

12 coordination and joint planning among neighboring 

13 Transmission Planning Regions on interregional 

14 transmission facilities; and 

15 ‘‘(3) for each Transmission Planning Region, 

16 compose and present a public annual report that in17 cludes— 

18 ‘‘(A) information on the performance of 

19 the planning process; 

20 ‘‘(B) any planning deficiencies or ineffi21 ciencies identified; 

22 ‘‘(C) comparisons to other Transmission 

23 Planning Regions; and 

24 ‘‘(D) recommended enhancements to plan25 ning and cost recovery rules. 


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1 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION AND SHARING; ASSESS2 MENT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All Transmission Planning 

4 Regions shall share with the Office all operating 

5 data and planning assumptions needed for the Di6 rector to carry out the duties described in subsection 

7 (d). 

8 ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT.—The Commission shall col9 lect such data as are necessary to assess the oper10 ating data and planning assumptions shared with 

11 the Office under paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) SHARING.—The Commission shall share 

13 the data described in paragraphs (1) and (2) with 

14 public interest stakeholders, as requested, to assist 

15 the public interest stakeholders in providing alter16 natives analyses, unless the Commission determines 

17 that confidentiality is necessary to protect confiden18 tial energy infrastructure information, confidential 

19 business information, or confidential personnel infor20 mation. 

21 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYMENT.—The Director may appoint, 

22 without regard to chapter 51, or subchapter III of chapter 

23 53, of title 5, United States Code, any experts that the 

24 Director determines are necessary to carry out the func25 tions of the Office under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

2 overrides or inhibits the existing authority of the Commis3 sion. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec6 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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