Consequently, these new entrants to the industry must rely on established transmission owners to provide the critical trade routes that move their product to market even though at times they compete with those same transmission owners for capacity to serve native load customers. In fact, to promote competition, the Energy Policy Act of 1992 required utilities to provide these new players with transmission service virtually identical to the service they provide their own generators. Competition means that more and more power is flowing in more and more directions on the grid as the number of deals grows exponentially . Traditionally, nature has posed the major threats to a reliable power delivery system. Tornadoes and ice destroy transmission structures.
Lightning knocks out equipment.
Trees grow and fall into power lines. And while those hazards still exist, competition challenges reliability in ways that we are just beginning to recognize and address. Planning in a Vacuum Location is always a key consideration in building a new generating plant. Historically, plants were built where the transmission system could handle, or could be made to handle, the added power. In short, planning for new power plants always occurred in lockstep with planning for transmission.