EEI President Welcomes Designation of National Electric Transmission Corridors

Washington, DC () - Edison Electric Institute President Thomas R. Kuhn today applauded the long-awaited designation of proposed National Electric Transmission Corridors by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), calling the announcement an important step toward relieving transmission congestion and strengthening the nation's electric grid.

The DOE issued draft national corridor designations to the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions, both of which were identified as critical congestion areas in a DOE congestion study in August 2006. DOE was tasked with identifying the congestion zones in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which gives federal regulators limited authority to consider siting necessary transmission lines in those zones when states fail to resolve the congestion problem in a timely manner.

"These designations continue the important process of addressing the severe transmission congestion that affects key portions of the nation's electric grid," Kuhn said. "Today's announcement is a crucial step, and it is imperative that this process continue in a timely manner so that this critical issue is addressed."

Kuhn pointed out that the designated areas have long been known to have severe electric transmission congestion that will only continue to grow if not addressed, thus compromising the nation's electricity reliability and security and adding to already increasing costs.

The proposed DOE designation for the Mid-Atlantic area includes counties in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and the District of Columbia. The proposed designation for the Southwest area includes counties in southern California, western Arizona and southern Nevada.

Kuhn said designating such broad areas would give states the maximum flexibility to craft solutions to critical transmission congestion issues, whether those solutions consist of additional transmission infrastructure, generation facilities, demand-response or energy efficiency. He said public participation in such a process is crucial to its success.

"The federal government would only become involved if the states cannot reach workable solutions," Kuhn said. "We strongly support active participation by the states and their citizens in this process."

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.