The U.S. Division of Power (DOE) has superior three potential Nationwide Curiosity Electrical Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) into Part 3 of its designation course of, specializing in areas with vital transmission constraints to boost grid reliability and cut back client prices. The measure is historic—given no NIETCs at the moment exist regardless of a decades-long effort to ascertain them—and it marks important progress for the reason that idea was redefined beneath the 2021 Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The DOE’s Dec. 16–introduced shortlist pares down 10 preliminary NIETC designations introduced in Might 2024 beneath a new four-phase course of for designating NIETCs introduced in December 2023. Areas that may now provoke the Part 3 designation course of—which entails the general public and governmental engagement section—embody:
- Lake Erie-Canada Hall, together with components of Lake Erie and Pennsylvania
- Southwestern Grid Connector Hall, together with components of Colorado, New Mexico, and a small portion of western Oklahoma
- Tribal Power Entry Hall, together with central components of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and 5 Tribal Reservations.
On Monday, the DOE opened a 60-day remark interval. “After the shut of the general public remark window on Feb. 14, 2025, DOE will evaluate feedback and create tailor-made public engagement plans for every potential NIETC,” the company mentioned. “DOE will decide its obligations beneath relevant environmental legal guidelines in Winter and Spring 2025 after which proceed to conduct any required environmental evaluations.” Completion of the analysis section throughout Part 3 will then permit the company to launch any draft NIETC designation stories and draft environmental paperwork, although these paperwork may even require public remark intervals.
What Are NIETCs and Why Are They Wanted?
Whereas states have lengthy been arbiters of transmission allowing inside their boundaries, their patchwork insurance policies for transmission siting, environmental evaluate, and eminent area has posed a considerable bottleneck for transmission traces crossing state traces. However, assuming even average development and excessive clear vitality development, 54,500 GW-miles of latest transmission will likely be wanted nationwide by 2035—a 64% enhance from right this moment’s transmission system—the DOE estimates in its October 2023–issued Nationwide Transmission Wants Research. The triennial “state of the grid” report (previously a “congestion research” which in 2023 included forward-looking attributes) underscored a urgent want for added transmission infrastructure in practically all U.S. areas for reliability and resilience.
To deal with transmission constraints—a longstanding concern that business has voiced—the Power Coverage Act of 2005 carved out a extra important federal position in sure transmission siting choices, establishing a “backstop” siting authority for the Federal Power Regulatory Fee (FERC) that approved the federal entity to situation permits for the development or modification of transmission amenities in sure circumstances in areas designated by the Secretary of Power as NIETCs—areas experiencing or going through capability constraints.
However whereas the DOE moved to designate two corridors within the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest NIETCs in 2007, the Ninth Circuit vacated the hassle in 2011. Two federal appeals courts in 2009 and 2011, in the meantime, barred FERC and the DOE from leveraging the backstop siting authority. The 2021 IIJA, nonetheless, amended Part 216 of the Federal Energy Act (FPA) to deal with points recognized within the choices. Over the previous two years, DOE and FERC proposed new guidelines to implement their amended authority, which has led to swift motion.
On Might 8, leveraging its new IIJA authority, the DOE recognized 10 preliminary NIETCs. The DOE’s preliminary designations—knowledgeable by the findings in DOE’s October 2023–issued Nationwide Transmission Wants Research—recognized three areas within the East, 5 within the Central U.S., and one within the West.
However on Monday, the DOE introduced that “knowledgeable by the substantial feedback” acquired in Part 2, it had “mixed and refined the boundaries of 4 of the ten potential NIETCs from Part 2 to type the boundaries of the three potential corridors continuing to Part 3.” It means, the company mentioned, that the next areas won’t proceed as a part of the designation course of.
- New York-New England
- New York-Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest-Plains
- Mid-Atlantic
- Delta-Plains
- Mountain-Northwest
A Deeper Take a look at NIETC Designations Transferring to Part 3
The DOE mentioned it “anticipates extra refinement throughout Part 3 of the designation course of. DOE is specializing in areas the place it believes NIETC designation could also be Most worthy at the moment to unlock federal instruments to speed up transmission deployment,” it famous.
In the meantime, although the DOE recognized transmission initiatives beneath improvement within the potential NIETCs, it underscored that “any closing NIETC designation isn’t a route dedication for a selected transmission mission, and any co-location of a mission inside a chosen NIETC isn’t a predetermination or indication of the mission’s general eligibility for any DOE financing program.”
Lake Erie-Canada Hall
Refined from the Mid-Atlantic-Canada proposal within the Part 2 checklist, the potential Part 3 NIETC designation spans northern Pennsylvania and an expanded portion of Lake Erie. The DOE mentioned the hall has been refined to exclude delicate areas like Erie Bluffs State Park whereas broadening offshore protection to 2 miles extensive. The onshore section, roughly a quarter-mile in width, supplies a slim however strategically important route for interregional transmission infrastructure, it steered.
The hall is designed to “keep and enhance reliability and resilience and enhance clear vitality integration, in step with preliminary findings in Part 2.” It could present interregional connections between Canada and PJM, probably addressing useful resource adequacy shortfalls inside PJM. The interconnection may even facilitate higher clear vitality integration, supporting renewable imports and grid stability in one of many nation’s largest energy markets, the DOE mentioned.
- Transmission Challenge Underneath Growth:
- Lake Erie Connector – NextEra Power Transmission, LLC: A proposed 1,000 MW high-voltage direct present (HVDC) line working beneath Lake Erie to allow environment friendly electrical energy change between Canada and the U.S., lowering congestion and bettering system flexibility.
Southwestern Grid Connector Hall
Refined from the Mountain-Plain-Southwest and Plains-Southwest corridors within the Part 2 checklist, this potential Part 3 NIETC covers components of Colorado, New Mexico, and the Oklahoma panhandle. The DOE mentioned the hall “consists of newly added parts of southeastern Colorado and New Mexico” whereas leveraging present infrastructure, together with transmission line rights-of-way and back-to-back high-voltage direct present (HVDC) substations. With sections starting from three to fifteen miles extensive, the DOE emphasised its position in addressing “congestion, assembly future era and demand development, and growing clear vitality integration.”
The hall serves as an important connection between the Jap and Western Interconnections, enabling higher operational flexibility and supporting cross-regional transmission between the Southwest Energy Pool (SPP) and WestConnect areas. “The present transmission traces and substations included on this hall can assist enhance reliability and resilience whereas easing constraints on the grid,” DOE findings steered.
- Transmission Initiatives Underneath Growth:
- Heartland Spirit Connector – NextEra Power Transmission, LLC: A high-voltage line mission that may improve interregional connections between SPP and WestConnect.
- Southline Part 3 – Grid United: A mission aimed toward upgrading present infrastructure to strengthen vitality switch capability throughout regional seams.
Tribal Power Entry Hall
The Tribal Power Entry Hall, refined from the Northern Plains hall within the Part 2 checklist, spans central North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and 5 Tribal reservations: Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Standing Rock, and Yankton. The DOE famous that the hall “connects a number of Tribal reservations to present or under-development higher-voltage transmission traces” and follows present rights-of-way for many of its path, which ranges from two to fifteen miles extensive.
In accordance with the DOE, the hall is particularly designed to “alleviate congestion and cut back client prices, enhance clear vitality integration, and meet future era and demand development.” It additionally highlights the distinctive alternative to help Tribal vitality improvement. “By addressing a scarcity of extra-high-voltage transmission infrastructure, this hall might facilitate Tribal vitality and financial improvement, offering much-needed alternatives for clear vitality initiatives and funding,” the DOE mentioned.
- Transmission Challenge Underneath Growth:
- TRIBES Challenge – A partnership led by the Western Space Energy Administration, Basin Electrical Energy Cooperative, and Oceti Sakowin Energy Authority (together with member Tribes, IBEW Native 1250, and Steelhead Americas): Centered on constructing out bulk electrical provide infrastructure to enhance grid entry, combine renewables, and create financial alternatives for Tribal communities.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
