A. Transmission planning must be linked to the financing of transmission
enhancements. Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO) can provide the
needed link between planning and financing.
B. Because of the lead time needed to build new transmission capacity, it
is necessary to begin transmission planning before RTOs are in place. Such
transmission planning should mesh with the transmission planning RTOs will
be conducting when they are established. Once RTOs are operational, the
information used for transmission planning processes should be supplemented
by information derived from market-based congestion management systems.
C. The process for identifying and studying transmission enhancements
needs to involve all affected parties, including states and provinces, and
be conducted on a regional basis. The appropriate size of the regional
depends on the proposed transmission enhancement and could be as large as
the Western Interconnection.
D. The western transmission system needs to enable competitive markets
that foster the achievement of the goals of secure, adequate, reliable,
diverse, affordable and environmentally-sound power for the West.
E. The evaluation of transmission needs and proposed projects should
consider transmission and non-transmission alternatives.
F. As a general principle, the cost of transmission capacity expansion
should be borne by the beneficiaries of the new capacity. The cost of
transmission expansion to improve the reliability of power delivery in a
particular area should be allocated to the consumers in that area. The cost
of expansion to allow new generation to reach load should be borne by the
generators, unless potential customers for the power can be induced to
participate voluntarily. It may be difficult to identify the individual
beneficiaries of transmission expansion proposals to mitigate market power.
In such cases, spreading the cost of the transmission upgrades among all
consumers in the area may be appropriate.
G. The permitting and siting of new transmission facilities needs to be
expedited through early identification of information governmental agencies
need to make permitting and siting decisions and by coordinating project
review and decision-making schedules among regulatory agencies.