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Press Release |
Karen Deike or Doug Larson
(303) 623-9378
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DENVER -- Governors have asked the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council to review the region’s ability to avoid cascading power outages
and report its findings during the Western Governors’ Association’s
Annual Meeting on Sept. 14 in Big Sky, Mont.
Ensuring affordable, stable supplies of energy and regional transmission planning will be the main topics of discussion on Sunday, Sept. 14. Western Governors have long urged Congress to adopt electricity legislation that would give the West and other regions authority to develop enforceable reliability standards for their electric grids. Robert Card, Department of Energy Under Secretary for Energy, Science and Environment, will discuss with the governors and Western Canadian Premiers the outlook and policy options for addressing the region's growing dependence on natural gas and other near- and long-term energy needs. Judith Johansen, CEO of PacifiCorp, and Jack Davis, President of Pinnacle West, will report on utility resource and transmission planning in the region. Dennis Eyre, CEO of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, will report on the reliability of the Western electricity system. “The blackout that hit the Northeast, Midwest and parts of Canada clearly demonstrated the need to assess our region’s ability to avoid large scale, devastating power outages,” said Gov. Judy Martz of Montana, WGA Chair. “Having adequate and reliable transmission capacity is critical to the safety and well being of our citizens and a strong economy. We will discuss with the Administration and industry the status of regional planning, pending federal legislation and actions we need to take to ensure the system’s reliability.” Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who will become WGA Chair at the September meeting, has stated that he will emphasize U.S. and Western energy issues during his chairmanship. "The issue of electric reliability and finding regional solutions has been a high priority for Western governors since outages that hit the West in 1996," Richardson said. "For years Congress has failed to enact reliability legislation that would meet the needs of the Western Interconnection. The August blackout should be a wake-up call that it is past time to make reliability standards enforceable within each region." Information on the meeting can be found on WGA’s Web site. The Western Governors’ Association is an independent, nonprofit organization representing the governors of 18 states and three U.S.-flag islands in the Pacific. Through their Association, the governors identify and address key policy and governance issues in natural resources, the environment, human services, economic development, international relations and public management. Related Links East Coast Blackout and WGA Policy Short Summary
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