On November 1, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced the "Rural Clean Energy Superhighways Act" (H.R. 4059) that would create "National Renewable Energy Zones" (NREZs) to help renewable energy projects, particularly in remote areas, gain access to the U.S. transmission grid. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced a similar bill (S. 2076). The legislation would make significant changes to current federal transmission policy and on policies of federal power marketing agencies (PMAs).
Specifically, the bill would authorize the President to designate areas that meet certain criteria as NREZs and to identify specific high-voltage transmission facilities and interconnections needed to increase renewable electric generation within each zone. It would allow a surcharge to be levied on all transmission users in the region to pay the up-front costs of interconnecting renewable projects in those zones to the grid and allow FERC-jurisdictional utilities to cost-share the expense of building the high-voltage lines.
If private companies do not build identified facilities within three years, the federal PMAs and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are given $10 million in bonding authority to construct them. In that case, not less than 75% of a line's capacity must be used to carry energy generated by renewable resources. The bill is silent on what happens in the event a private utility does not build an identified line in a region not served by PMAs. Therefore, it is unclear how the Northeast or other RTO regions would be impacted by the legislation.
Public power, investor-owned utilities, and rural electric cooperatives have expressed concern to both the Inslee and Reid bills' approach. On the other hand, the bill is supported by the wind industry, which cites the efforts in California and Texas as examples of where this approach has worked.