Dear Secretary Bose: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Global Energy Institute (collectively, “the Chamber”) appreciate the opportunity to submit these comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”)[1] issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) on April 21, 2022. The NOPR builds upon the wealth of comments submitted to the Commission in response to its earlier issuance of a far-ranging Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,[2] which teed up a number of inquiries and potential policy modifications concerning the broad transmission planning, generator interconnection, and associated cost allocation processes overseen by FERC.3 The NOPR narrows that focus through the solicitation of comments on potential reforms to the regionally focused electric transmission planning, cost allocation, and right of first refusal processes overseen by the Commission.
The refined NOPR appropriately limits its reach to a more manageable scope than that covered by the ANOPR, primarily setting forth proposed revisions to the regional transmission planning and transmission cost allocation processes that were most recently formulated as part of FERC’s Order No. 1000 series of rulemakings.[4] Since the issuance of the NOPR, FERC has proposed a second rulemaking – with a separate and subsequent comment period – to evaluate potential reforms to the Commission’s electric generator interconnection procedures and agreements.[5] This now bifurcated proceeding focuses upon the improvement of the associated queuing and study processes applicable to generator interconnection requests, along with potential improvements to the cost allocation methodologies relating to upgrades necessary to support newly interconnecting generation. Comments and reply comments in this related but now separated proceeding (Docket No. RM22-14-000) are slated to be due on October 13, 2022, and on November 14, 2022, respectively.