FERC Proposal Would Subsidize Long-Distance Transmission Projects, Costing Consumers Billions of Dollars, Says CFTP Op-Ed in The Hill
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 7:13 PMIn a recent op-ed, Bruce Edelston, executive director of the Coalition for Fair Transmission Policy, warned that electricity prices could become the next flashpoint in the nation's capital if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proceeds on July 21 with a transmission proposal that burdens consumers with the costs of new electric facilities from which they receive little or no benefits.
"FERC action on cost allocation for new transmission should ensure the lowest reasonable cost to consumers, not the largest possible subsidies to clean energy developers and transmission companies," stated the op-ed in The Hill newspaper, a prominent print and online Washington publication for and about Congress.
An earlier FERC order provoked concerns about commission policy. In December, FERC issued an order that socializes the cost of certain new transmission lines across 13 Midwestern states. "Michigan consumers may be the first to experience FERC-approved sticker shock -- a $500 million a year surtax on their utility bills," Edelston wrote. As a result of the order, "Michigan could be forced to pay 20 percent of at least $16 billion for new wind farms in other states that will provide virtually no benefits to Michigan consumers," the op-ed stated.
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