II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2827 

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish minimum 

interregional transfer capabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 

establish minimum interregional transfer capabilities, 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 ‘‘Building Integrated 

5 Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘BIG WIRES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) interregional electric transmission is 

2 foundational to a modern grid and a growing econ3 omy based on affordable and abundant energy; 

4 (2) in recent decades, the interregional electric 

5 grid infrastructure of North America, and of the 

6 United States in particular, has stagnated; 

7 (3) since 2014, the total capacity of planned or 

8 newly constructed large-scale interregional trans9 mission in North America has amounted to less than 

1⁄3 that of South America, 1 10 ⁄6 that of Europe, and 

1 11 ⁄30 that of China; 

12 (4) such a shortage of interregional trans13 mission threatens the reliability of the electric grid 

14 of the United States and its resiliency to extreme 

15 weather events and cyber and physical attacks while 

16 artificially inflating energy prices for the people of 

17 the United States; 

18 (5) the damages resulting from that inter19 regional transmission shortfall have been borne 

20 across the United States, in part during extreme 

21 weather events, including the 2022 freeze affecting 

22 the majority of the United States, the 2020 and 

23 2022 heat waves in California, the 2019 heat wave 

24 and 2021 freeze in Texas, the 2018 cyclone on the 

25 East Coast, and the 2014 polar vortex in the NorthVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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1 east and Midwest, and those extreme weather events 

2 collectively cost the people of the United States hun3 dreds of billions of dollars; 

4 (6) new interregional transmission, and transfer 

5 capability achieved by means of other technologies 

6 and grid-operational practices, represents a unique 

7 opportunity to fortify the critical energy infrastruc8 ture of the United States while lowering the cost of 

9 living for families; 

10 (7) studies of interregional transmission rou11 tinely find benefit-cost ratios as high as 2.5, in line 

12 with real-world experience; 

13 (8) by relieving grid congestion and promoting 

14 more efficient grid planning and operation, new 

15 interregional transmission presents an all-of-the16 above opportunity for the full energy-generating 

17 portfolio of renewable, fossil, and nuclear resources 

18 of the United States; and 

19 (9) interregional transmission represents a 2- 

20 way value proposition, with secure careers for work21 ers in energy communities and competitively 

22 sourced, low-cost, reliable energy for industrial, com23 mercial, and residential energy customers nation24 wide. 


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1 SEC. 3. MINIMUM INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER CAPABILI2 TIES AND REQUIREMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act 

4 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 224. INTERREGIONAL RELIABILITY. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) COINCIDENT INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER

9 CAPABILITY.—The term ‘coincident interregional 

10 transfer capability’, with respect to an interregional 

11 transmission planning region, means the ability of 

12 the interconnected electrical system to coincidently 

13 move electric energy reliably between the inter14 regional transmission planning region in question 

15 and the rest of the interconnected electrical system. 

16 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 

17 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

18 ‘‘(3) INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER CAPABILITY.— 

19 The term ‘interregional transfer capability’ means 

20 the ability of the interconnected electrical system to 

21 move electric energy reliably between 2 or more 

22 interregional transmission planning regions. 

23 ‘‘(4) INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION PLANNING

24 REGION.—The term ‘interregional transmission plan25 ning region’ means a region for which electric energy 

26 transmission planning is appropriate, as determined 


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1 by the Commission, such as a region approved by 

2 the Commission to meet the requirements of the 

3 final rule of the Commission entitled ‘Transmission 

4 Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Own5 ing and Operating Public Utilities’ (Docket No. 

6 RM10–23). 

7 ‘‘(5) MINIMUM INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER CA8 PABILITY.—The term ‘minimum interregional trans9 fer capability’ means, as applicable— 

10 ‘‘(A) the coincident interregional transfer 

11 capability described in subsection (b)(1)(A); or 

12 ‘‘(B) a higher coincident interregional 

13 transfer capability established in accordance 

14 with subsection (b)(1)(B). 

15 ‘‘(6) MINIMUM INTERREGIONAL TRANSFER RE16 QUIREMENT.—The term ‘minimum interregional 

17 transfer requirement’ means any requirement to 

18 meet or maintain a minimum interregional transfer 

19 capability. 

20 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF MINIMUM INTERREGIONAL

21 TRANSFER CAPABILITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

23 after the date of enactment of this section, the Com24 mission shall promulgate a final rule that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) requires each interregional trans2 mission planning region to establish or increase 

3 interregional transfer capabilities such that the 

4 coincident interregional transfer capability of 

5 each interregional transmission planning region 

6 is not less than the lesser of— 

7 ‘‘(i) 30 percent of its own present-day 

8 coincident peak load; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the sum obtained by adding— 

10 ‘‘(I) the present-day coincident 

11 interregional transfer capability of the 

12 interregional transmission planning 

13 region; and 

14 ‘‘(II) 15 percent of its own 

15 present-day coincident peak load; 

16 ‘‘(B) on a showing of net benefits, may re17 quire 1 or more interregional transmission plan18 ning regions to meet or maintain a coincident 

19 interregional transfer capability that exceeds 

20 the applicable minimum interregional transfer 

21 capability described in subparagraph (A); 

22 ‘‘(C) based on the applicable minimum 

23 interregional transfer capability, shall govern 

24 the establishment of minimum interregional 

25 transfer requirements for interconnections beVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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1 tween interregional transmission planning re2 gions; 

3 ‘‘(D) calculates the present-day coincident 

4 interregional transfer capabilities of the inter5 regional transmission planning regions by— 

6 ‘‘(i) defining the present-day coinci7 dent interregional transfer capability of 

8 each interregional transmission planning 

9 region as being equal to the greater of— 

10 ‘‘(I) the coincident import capa11 bility of the interregional transmission 

12 planning region; and 

13 ‘‘(II) the coincident export capa14 bility of the interregional transmission 

15 planning region; 

16 ‘‘(ii) defining the coincident import 

17 capability of each interregional trans18 mission planning region as being equal to 

the absolute value of the first 1 19 ⁄10 of the 

20 first percentile (0.1th percentile) of the co21 incident hourly electrical transfers of that 

22 interregional transmission planning region; 

23 ‘‘(iii) defining the coincident export 

24 capability of the interregional transmission 

25 planning region as being equal to the absoVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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lute value of the last 1 1 ⁄10 of the 99th per2 centile (99.9th percentile) of the coincident 

3 hourly electrical transfers of that inter4 regional transmission planning region; 

5 ‘‘(iv) defining the coincident hourly 

6 electrical transfers of each interregional 

7 transmission planning region as being 

8 equal to the sum obtained by adding, with 

9 respect to each hour, the hourly electrical 

10 transfers of all balancing authorities that, 

11 in the determination of the Commission, 

12 most closely correspond to the inter13 regional transmission planning region in 

14 question using data from Form EIA–930 

15 of the Energy Information Administration 

16 for the 5-year period ending on— 

17 ‘‘(I) for each plan described in 

18 subparagraph (G) that is required to 

19 be submitted by the date described in 

20 that subparagraph, the date that is 1 

21 year before the date of enactment of 

22 this section; and 

23 ‘‘(II) for each plan submitted 

24 under paragraph (4)(A) and each up25 dated plan submitted under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:28 Sep 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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1 graph (4)(B), the date that is 1 year 

2 before the deadline for submission of 

3 that plan; and 

4 ‘‘(v) defining the hourly electrical 

5 transfers of each interregional trans6 mission planning region as being equal to, 

7 for each hour— 

8 ‘‘(I) the hourly exports of that 

9 interregional transmission planning 

10 region; minus 

11 ‘‘(II) the hourly imports of that 

12 interregional transmission planning 

13 region; 

14 ‘‘(E) calculates the present-day coincident 

15 peak loads of the interregional transmission 

16 planning regions by— 

17 ‘‘(i) defining the present-day coinci18 dent peak load of each interregional trans19 mission planning region as being equal to 

the last 1 20 ⁄10 of the 99th percentile (99.9th 

21 percentile) of the coincident hourly load of 

22 that interregional transmission planning 

23 region; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) defining the coincident hourly 

25 load of each interregional transmission 


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1 planning region as being equal to the sum 

2 obtained by adding, with respect to each 

3 hour, the hourly loads of all balancing au4 thorities that, in the determination of the 

5 Commission, most closely correspond to 

6 the interregional transmission planning re7 gion in question using data from Form 

8 EIA–930 of the Energy Information Ad9 ministration for the 5-year period ending 

10 on— 

11 ‘‘(I) for each plan described in 

12 subparagraph (G) that is required to 

13 be submitted by the date described in 

14 that subparagraph, the date that is 1 

15 year before the date of enactment of 

16 this section; and 

17 ‘‘(II) for each plan submitted 

18 under paragraph (4)(A) and each up19 dated plan submitted under para20 graph (4)(B), the date that is 1 year 

21 before the deadline for submission of 

22 that plan; 

23 ‘‘(F) for purposes of determining the ade24 quacy of a plan described in subparagraph (G) 

25 to provide for the achievement of the minimum 


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1 interregional transfer capability applicable to an 

2 interregional transmission planning region, de3 scribes and employs a clear methodology for 

4 calculating anticipated changes to the coinci5 dent peak load and coincident interregional 

6 transfer capability of an interregional trans7 mission planning region designed to correspond 

8 approximately to what would be reasonably ex9 pected to be calculated under subparagraphs 

10 (D) and (E) at a future date based on— 

11 ‘‘(i) the construction or modification 

12 of new or existing transmission facilities, 

13 including facilities built between inter14 regional transmission planning regions and 

15 facilities within interregional transmission 

16 planning regions that impact the ability of 

17 the interregional transmission planning re18 gions to move electric energy between 

19 themselves and neighboring interregional 

20 transmission planning regions; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the use of nontransmission alter22 natives, including grid-enhancing tech23 nologies; 

24 ‘‘(iii) changes to generation or load 

25 within interregional transmission planning 


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1 regions, including energy efficiency and de2 mand response programs; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) other changes to the bulk-power 

4 system (as defined in section 215(a)) or 

5 the operation of the bulk-power system 

6 that are expected to meaningfully alter co7 incident peak loads or coincident inter8 regional transfer capabilities, as deter9 mined by the Commission; 

10 ‘‘(G) establishes a process for each inter11 regional transmission planning region to sub12 mit, jointly with each other interregional trans13 mission planning region with which the inter14 regional transmission planning region has, or 

15 plans to establish, an interregional transfer ca16 pability, not later than 2 years after the effec17 tive date of the final rule, a plan that— 

18 ‘‘(i) designates 1 or more entities for 

19 construction of new facilities or modifica20 tion of existing facilities to achieve the ap21 plicable minimum interregional transfer ca22 pability in an efficient and timely manner 

23 for the benefit of ultimate consumers; 

24 ‘‘(ii) allocates the costs of the facilities 

25 described in clause (i); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) includes a timeline for the con2 struction of the facilities described in 

3 clause (i)— 

4 ‘‘(I) by December 31, 2035; or 

5 ‘‘(II) if any construction will ex6 tend beyond that date, that includes 

7 an explanation of the reasons for that 

8 construction extending beyond that 

9 date; and 

10 ‘‘(H) explains how the Commission will 

11 designate 1 or more entities to construct or 

12 modify, and how the Commission will allocate 

13 the costs of, the facilities described in clause (i) 

14 of subparagraph (G) in the event that an inter15 regional transmission planning region fails to 

16 submit a plan in accordance with that subpara17 graph. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTIONS; CONSULTATION.—In es19 tablishing the methodology under paragraph (1)(F), 

20 the Commission may— 

21 ‘‘(A) establish and use simplified, rebutta22 ble presumptions relating to the extent to which 

23 coincident interregional transfer capabilities or 

24 coincident peak loads will be anticipated to be 

25 altered by facilities, technologies, or programs 


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1 described in clauses (i) through (iv) of that 

2 paragraph; and 

3 ‘‘(B) consult with appropriate officials of 

4 the Department of Energy. 

5 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out para6 graph (1), the Commission shall consider and deter7 mine the role of transfer capabilities between inter8 regional transmission planning regions and other 

9 electrical systems in North America in meeting the 

10 requirements of that paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(4) PLANS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) NEW INTERREGIONAL TRANSMISSION

13 PLANNING REGIONS.—Not later than 2 years 

14 after the establishment of any new interregional 

15 transmission planning region, the new inter16 regional transmission planning region and each 

17 interregional transmission planning region with 

18 which the new interregional transmission plan19 ning region has, or plans to establish, an inter20 regional transfer capability, shall jointly submit 

21 to the Commission a plan described in para22 graph (1)(G) to meet the minimum inter23 regional transfer capability applicable to that 

24 new interregional transmission planning region. 

25 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

2 shall require each plan submitted in ac3 cordance with paragraph (1)(G) or sub4 paragraph (A) to be updated, and the up5 dated plan submitted to the Commission, 

6 every 5 years after the deadline for sub7 mission of the initial plan. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—An updated 

9 plan submitted in accordance with clause 

10 (i) shall, at a minimum, account for any 

11 changes in regional coincident peak load 

12 since the most recent previous submission. 

13 ‘‘(C) REVIEW.—The Commission shall re14 view each plan submitted in accordance with 

15 paragraph (1)(G) or subparagraph (A) or (B) 

16 in a manner consistent with— 

17 ‘‘(i) the principles described in sub18 section (g); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) sections 205 and 206, with re20 spect to the requirement that all rates, 

21 charges, terms, and conditions be just and 

22 reasonable and not unduly discriminatory 

23 or preferential. 

24 ‘‘(c) EQUAL APPLICATION.—In carrying out this sec25 tion, including with respect to the imposition of, and asVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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1 sessing compliance with, any minimum interregional 

2 transfer requirement, the Commission shall apply all pro3 visions of this section, and any regulations promulgated 

4 under this section, equally to all interregional transmission 

5 planning regions, including by using the same terms, defi6 nitions, and standards with respect to each interregional 

7 transmission planning region. 

8 ‘‘(d) COMMISSION JURISDICTION.—The Commission 

9 shall have jurisdiction within the United States over all 

10 transmitting utilities for the purposes of establishing min11 imum interregional transfer capabilities in accordance 

12 with this section and establishing and enforcing compli13 ance with minimum interregional transfer requirements. 

14 ‘‘(e) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY COUNCIL OF TEXAS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Public Utility Commis16 sion of Texas may, at its sole discretion, choose to 

17 support the reliability and affordability of the 

18 ERCOT system by voluntarily complying with a 

19 minimum interregional transfer requirement relating 

20 to a coincident interregional transfer capability that 

21 is equal to a percentage, determined by ERCOT, of 

22 the coincident peak load of ERCOT. 

23 ‘‘(2) SAVINGS CLAUSE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The construction or 

25 operation of an interregional facility, or the alVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:44 Sep 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2827.IS S2827

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1 location of costs for that construction, to meet 

2 a minimum interregional transfer capability 

3 shall not affect the jurisdiction of the Commis4 sion with respect to— 

5 ‘‘(i) ERCOT; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) any ERCOT utility. 

7 ‘‘(B) NOT PUBLIC UTILITIES.—The con8 struction or operation of a facility described in 

9 subparagraph (A), or the allocation of costs for 

10 that construction, shall not render ERCOT or 

11 any ERCOT utility a public utility. 

12 ‘‘(f) DATA QUALITY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad15 ministrator of the Energy Information Administra16 tion shall submit to the Commission an updated 

17 version of the data from Form EIA–930 for use in 

18 accordance with subparagraphs (D) and (E) of sub19 section (b)(1). 

20 ‘‘(2) ERRORS.—In updating the Form EIA–930 

21 data for purposes of paragraph (1), the Adminis22 trator of the Energy Information Administration, to 

23 the maximum extent practicable, shall control for 

24 the quality of the data by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) identifying any suspected erroneous 

2 values; and 

3 ‘‘(B) removing those suspected erroneous 

4 values or overwriting those suspected erroneous 

5 values with data that, in the determination of 

6 the Administrator, is likely to be more accurate. 

7 ‘‘(g) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out this section, 

8 the Commission shall endeavor— 

9 ‘‘(1) to improve the reliability and resilience of 

10 the electric grid of the United States, including dur11 ing— 

12 ‘‘(A) extreme weather scenarios; 

13 ‘‘(B) physical attacks; and 

14 ‘‘(C) cyber attacks; and 

15 ‘‘(2) to reduce the cost of delivered power to ul16 timate consumers by increasing access to low-cost 

17 generating resources.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 201 of the 

19 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

21 (A) in the first sentence— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘section 201(f)’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘and 222’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘222, and 224’’; and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘or 

2 222’’ and inserting ‘‘222, or 224’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (e)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘206(f),’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘or 222’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘222, or 224’’. 

Æ 


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