WASHINGTON – New Jersey has embarked on the largest-ever competitive bidding process for a transmission project in the country, which will help facilitate the provision of electricity from offshore wind facilities to households and businesses—saving ratepayers billions of dollars. According to the October 26 order from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the selected projects are estimated to save New Jersey ratepayers “over $900 million.” The order also directed staff to “begin a second round of coordinated transmission planning” to meet the state’s objectives, which means more savings for ratepayers can be expected.

On the whole, analysis from BPU staff found that “a proactively planned transmission system to accommodate new [offshore wind] generation saves ratepayers billions of dollars, compared to the costs of upgrading the transmission grid on a piecemeal basis.”

The competitive bidding process allows companies who want to build transmission projects but are not local monopoly electric utilities to compete.

In a statement, Paul Cicio, Chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition said, “this bidding process clearly demonstrates the significant cost-avoidance benefits of electricity transmission competition.”

“New Jersey consumers will save billions of dollars because competition drives downs costs and competitive bidders bring innovation and new technologies to the table. What happened in New Jersey stands in conflict with FERC’s proposed transmission policy that steps away from competition and is inconsistent with President Biden’s Executive Order, ‘Promoting Competition in the American Economy.’”

In its press release, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities said: “The approved applicants were part of a competitive solicitation process aimed at exploring coordinated offshore wind transmission solutions. The process identified the most cost-effective, environmentally sensitive, and ready-to-build means of reliably bringing offshore wind energy to shore.”

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The Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition (ETCC) is a broad-based, nation-wide coalition committed to increasing competition in America’s electricity transmission infrastructure. We advocate for common-sense policies and solutions that result in competitively priced transmission projects, which reduce energy costs for all ratepayers – from large manufacturers to residential consumers. The ETCC represents a diverse group of more than 70 companies and organizations from all 50 states, including manufacturing groups, retail electric consumers, state consumer advocates, public power representatives, think tanks, and non-incumbent transmission developers.

For more information, visit: www.electricitytransmissioncompetitioncoalition.org.

Press Contact:
Julian Graham
jgraham@signaldc.com