Energy Law

Bonneville Holding Transmission Open Season to Speed Interconnections

By Gunnar Birgisson

Transmission providers and customers alike are increasingly complaining about the lengthy queues for interconnecting to the transmission grid.  Scores of generator projects sign up for interconnection service, which is then delayed for years while the transmission provider conducts an array of studies.  To clear backlog on its transmission network, the Bonneville Power Administration is conducting a Network Open Season for transmission service that asks customers to commit to the transmission service they are seeking. 

At present BPA?s transmission queue includes requests by 25 customers for approximately 180 applications for transmission service totaling about 8,500 MW of new capacity, but BPA states that many of these service requests are speculative.  Under its new procedure, BPA will give all customers applying for transmission service by May 15, 2008, a precedent service agreement.  If a customer signs the binding agreement and remits the required financial security by June 16, 2008, BPA commits to providing the service, so long as it can provide the service at its rolled-in rate and complete its environmental study obligations.  BPA also will assume the study costs itself and arrange financing for any required transmission facilities, instead of requiring customers to front these costs.  However, if a customer declines the offer, BPA will withdraw its service requests from the transmission request queue, while allowing the customer to participate in future Network Open Seasons.

In December 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held a technical conference focusing on transmission queue logjams.  The interconnection queue process is governed by Order No. 2003, which standardized the agreements and procedures related to the interconnection of large generating facilities based on a first-come, first-served process.  However, the surge of new generation projects, including many based on wind and other forms of renewable energy, have led to long interconnection queues that transmission providers are now debating how to expedite. 

Full post as published by Energy Legal Blog on April 22, 2008 (boomark / email).