In a letter to the Senate Energy Committee Chair Joe Manchin and Ranking Member John Barrasso, Consumer Group Asked the Two Leaders to Urge FERC to Embrace Electricity Transmission Competition.

WASHINGTON – In a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Energy Committee, the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition called on the Senators to ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee not to backtrack on its statutory commitment to protecting electricity consumers. The letter to Senators Manchin and Barrasso pointed out that FERC’s core mission is to “protect electricity consumers” and that the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) the agency is contemplating undermines that mission.

The letter by Paul Cicio, Chair of the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition, said: “Competitive bidding of new transmission projects reduces electricity costs for consumers, is sound anti-inflationary policy, and is a bipartisan conclusion.  Under both Presidents Trump and Biden, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has challenged state incumbent preference laws (also known as rights of first refusal laws) that seek to circumvent FERC’s existing requirements for transmission competition.”

FERC issued Order No.1000 over a decade ago and argued correctly that transmission competition would reduce costs. Since that order, only three percent of all transmission investments have been competitively awarded because of lobbying efforts at the state level and a lack of enforcement. If FERC is to fulfill its mandate of ensuring that consumers have access to affordable and reliable electricity, it must embrace electricity transmission competition.

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About the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition

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 80 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