On October 2, the Department of Energy announced the designation of two National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) -- the Mid-Atlantic Area National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, and the Southwest Area National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. According to a press release from Kevin Kolover, Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, the national corridors are comprised of two geographic areas where consumers are adversely affected by transmission capacity constraints or congestion. DOE has made each National Corridor designation effective for twelve years.
The Mid-Atlantic Area National Corridor includes certain counties in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and all of New Jersey, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The Southwest Area National Corridor includes certain counties in California and Arizona.
Earlier this year, DOE issued draft national corridor designations, and then consulted with state and local agencies, regional entities, and the public. The Department also opened a 60-day public comment period, held over 60 hours of public meetings across the country, and received and evaluated over 2,000 public comments.
Today's designations do not direct the construction of any new transmission facilities, nor do they decide whether or where any new electric transmission facilities should be built or disapprove the construction of any particular proposed new facilities. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA 2005) authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue, under certain circumstances, permits for new transmission facilities within a National Corridor. Generally, if an applicant does not receive approval from a State to site a proposed new transmission project within a National Corridor within a year, FERC may consider whether to issue a permit and to authorize construction of the project.
For additional details, please go to http://nietc.anl.gov/