WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and former North Dakota Public Service Commissioner for nearly 10 years, wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding its ongoing rulemakings on transmission planning, cost allocation, and federal backstop siting authority.
This letter is a rebuttal to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) recent letter to FERC, requesting the agency federalize the siting of electricity transmission and broadly socialize costs, efforts Senate Democrats have not been able to accomplish legislatively.
“…the states, not FERC, are responsible for shaping the electricity generation mix. This also means FERC must respect the policy differences between all states, not just those pushing for a rapid, costly transition to intermittent resources in need of new transmission. Any attempt by FERC to undermine this state authority by shifting generation sources from reliable baseload to intermittent, distant generation under the guise of transmission planning would be a legal farce, and the intentions behind these misguided policies would be clear,” wrote Senator Cramer.
“Some have also publicly urged you to nationally prescribe so-called “benefits” of additional transmission to aid the development of transmission projects. This includes the expanded list of benefits prescribed in Senator Manchin’s Building American Energy Security Act of 2023 (S.1399), which failed to muster enough support to pass the Senate when given a vote. They assert that without defined “benefits” it will be too easy for transmission developers to skew a cost-benefit analysis in a desired direction.' This argument is disingenuous. Developers and regulators could just as easily use an arbitrary and loosely defined suite of “benefits” to socialize costs across a broader rate base,” continued Senator Cramer.
“Regarding FERC’s number one priority — reliability — the National American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) continues to sound the alarm about resource adequacy shortfalls across multiple transmission regions. NERC’s most recent Long-Term Reliability Assessment identified seven regions at high or elevated risk of resource adequacy shortfalls.’ The number one factor contributing to these shortfalls is the early retirement of dispatchable generators, namely coal, nuclear, and natural gas,” added Senator Cramer.
“I implore you to resist partisan demands to accelerate this change in resource mix and hide resource decisions under the guise of transmission policy. By attempting to force transmission onto a system without first addressing generation capacity shortfalls, we are putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Resource adequacy is, and will remain, the fundamental building block of a reliable bulk power system. These are issues of major political and economic significance, and contrary to the wishes of some, the Commission is not tasked with nationalizing the grid to fit the environmental whims of progressive states,” concluded Senator Cramer.
Click here to read the full letter.
Background:
In May 2023, Senator Cramer penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the principles needed to reach a commonsense agreement between Republicans and Democrats on transmission.
In April 2023, he questioned Christina Hayes, Executive Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, during an EPW hearing and raised concerns about giving the FERC greater authority over transmission systems, which would subject the projects to cumbersome National Environmental Policy Act processes.