In response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finalizing its regional transmission planning rule, Order 1920, in today’s special meeting, Evergreen Action Senior Power Sector Policy Lead Charles Harper released the following statement: 

“Today, FERC took historic action. The Commission exercised its single most effective tool to accelerate the buildout of much-needed transmission infrastructure. For years, our nation’s flagging transmission infrastructure has been a major barrier to bringing low-cost, clean energy onto the grid at scale. Today’s transmission planning rule will make sure that grid operators and transmission owners will at long last be required to proactively plan a 21st-century grid for a 21st-century economy. We urge FERC to follow up on this historic order with reforms tackling interregional transmission planning and minimum transfer requirements, but today’s action represents long-awaited progress. Order 1920 will ensure our grid infrastructure is prepared to tackle the challenges posed by climate-driven extreme weather, the energy transition, and increasing electricity demand.”

Last year, Evergreen released Warp Speed Clean Energy: Expediting Permitting and Equitable Grid Deployment Without Congress, which detailed an action plan for the Biden administration and state leaders to overcome multiple sources of delay and deploy transmission at the scale needed to meet our climate and clean energy goals. The report called on FERC to rapidly finalize a strong regional transmission planning rule that requires grid operators to consider a minimum set of the many benefits that new transmission lines bring and establish requirements and incentives for transmission owners to deploy grid-enhancing technologies.