The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) accepted the second phase of ISO New England’s Longer Term Transmission Planning (LTTP) tariff changes. The changes create a new process that will operate in addition to current transmission planning protocols.
The process will allow the region to implement transmission system upgrades based on the results of longer-term transmission studies such as the recent 2050 Transmission Study. The rules provide an avenue for the states to evaluate and finance transmission upgrades.
At the request of the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE), the ISO will issue and evaluate requests for proposals (RFPs) to address needs identified by the states. In addition, the ISO will provide technical assistance to the states in support of their procurements and efforts to secure federal funding for transmission investments.
Evaluation metrics include cost-saving regional benefits, project costs, urgency of need, environmental impact, siting, and other factors. Since larger transmission projects can help transfer power from larger renewable resources in rural areas to more densely populated areas, these projects may offset the need for new generating resources in urban and suburban locations, ISO-NE said, and methods to measure such benefits are included in the evaluation process.
ISO-NE said many elements of LTTP Phase 2 are aligned with FERC’s recent Order 1920, which also addresses future regional transmission planning. The ISO expects to begin discussions on this order later in 2024.
LTTP Phase 2 is the culmination of a process that began in 2020 with the New England States Committee on Electricity’s (NESCOE) New England States’ Vision for a Clean, Affordable, and Reliable 21st Century Regional Electric Grid, which called on the ISO to incorporate a longer-term transmission planning process in its system planning efforts. The first phase of the LTTP changes, accepted by FERC in February 2022, created the longer-term transmission study process, which helped initiate the ISO’s 2050 Transmission Study. The study outlined potential roadmaps and associated costs needed to support reliability through the energy transition.
Other independent system operators have adopted similar changes in longer-term transmission planning, including MISO’s Multi-Value Projects and PJM’s State Agreement Approach.
ISO New England has requested a response from FERC by July 9.
