Calling the plan overly broad and unreasonable, the Public Utility Commission this week called on the U.S. Department of Energy to withdraw its proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor for the Mid -Atlantic region (NIETC).

The PUC comments were filed as part of the Department's considerations of two NIETC designations. Section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed DOE to conduct studies of electric transmission congestion every three years, and authorized the federal agency to designate NIETCs based on those studies.

The PUC said DOE "has misinterpreted and failed to follow the legal requirements set forth by Congress for NIETC designation, has failed to make the detailed factual findings required by Congress and should not be adopted by the Department."

The proposed NIETC includes 52 out of Pennsylvania's 67 counties in the corridor's Mid-Atlantic region. Cameron, Clarion, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Sullivan, Tioga, Venango, Warren counties are not included in the draft corridor designation. Besides Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region encompasses all or portions of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia.

The PUC asked the federal agency to issue a new designation that has a more narrow scope and better reflects Congressional intent in establishing NIETC.

"It is evident that Congress, in drafting Section 1221 did not intend to indiscriminately 'federalize' the entire U.S. transmission grid. Congress' clearly expressed intent should carefully guide NIETC designation in a way that results in the least intrusion on tradition state siting authority," the PUC said.

The Commission urges the federal agency to define NIETCs as "true corridors with an entry point at the source, an exit point at the load and a congestion interface across which the transmission point crosses." The PUC points out that the DOE's overly broad "zone" designation currently being considered may result in "any transmission project (approved in that zone) may seek to avoid meaningful state review."

7/6/2007