The group will support legislative and regulatory policies within energy legislation that will lead to development of the nation’s electric transmission systems and clean generation resources.
The coalition will seek to ensure that any effort to improve transmission planning builds on existing coordinated, open and transparent regional processes, and is inclusive of all stakeholders. The CFTP believes that voluntary interconnection-wide coordination should be a complement to, and not a substitute for, local and regional processes.
The coalition will also work to ensure that the costs of new transmission investments are borne by those who create the need for the investments. The coalition supports language in S 1462 that precludes the allocation of transmission expansion costs to electric consumers unless there are measurable economic or reliability benefits for those consumers.
Dave Joos, president and CEO of CMS Energy, said: “Customers are best served when electric transmission system planning reflects local needs and criteria. Local planning – coordinated with planning by regional transmission organizations and other regional grid operators – will ensure that the appropriate electric transmission facilities are built and will provide support to assure that those parties directly benefitting from new transmission expansion pay for the new facilities.”
The coalition has ten founding members including Alliant Energy, CMS Energy, Con Edison, DTE Energy, Indianapolis Power & Light, Northeast Utilities, PPL Corporation, Public Service Enterprise Group, Southern Co, and Progress Energy.
