08/22/2022

OCTC Joins Coalition to Urge FERC to Require Competition for Transmission Projects

Last week, OCTC joined a coalition of business groups called the Electricity Transmission Competition Coalition (ETCC). The group is calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require transmission competition for projects that are 100 kV or larger, and fulfill its mandate to provide affordable and reliable energy to households and businesses. In comments to FERC, the ETCC reiterated the need for a competitively bid transmission process to help lower costs for consumers, noting that competition is an effective anti-inflation policy.

In its filing, ETCC highlighted that the FERC proposal fails to provide adequate consumer protection against unjust, unreasonable, and unduly discriminatory transmission rates. Competition has been proven to lower costs and increase innovation. FERC is abandoning its mandate and turning its back on the solution to the problems it seeks to address.

Electricity transmission competition has been shown to lower costs by as much as 40 percent. In an era of soaring electricity price inflation, it is essential that transmission projects that are 100kV or larger are competitively bid.

You can read the full filing here.