Commissioner Houck Urges FERC to Drop its ROFR Provisions from its Transmission Planning NOPR

WASHINGTON – IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Commissioner Darcie L. Houck has urged FERC to embrace transmission competition and drop the right of first refusal (ROFR) provisions from its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on transmission planning. In a joint federal-state task force meeting between FERC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the California official highlighted the considerable cost savings that transmission competition has brought to CAISO.

In her statement, Commissioner Houck stressed the importance of embracing competition at a time when federal and state governments are making considerable investments in transmission, stating:

“Cognizant of this moment in which significant investment is being channeled into transmission to build the grid of the future, we are hopeful that the final rule FERC issues will help ensure that ratepayers get the most bang for their buck. California is particularly concerned that were FERC to adopt either of the proposed ROFRs, competition for transmission infrastructure in the CAISO and throughout the country would effectively be eliminated, and we would view this as a regulatory step backward and a terrible loss for California ratepayers who would lose out on the considerable improving cost savings from competition as demonstrated in the CAISO over the past 11 years.”

You can watch the full video here.

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