Jeff Bingaman: “Senator Thune's amendment makes a major change in a provision of the Federal Power Act that governs the siting of…”

“Senator Thune's amendment makes a major change in a provision of the Federal Power Act that governs the siting of electric transmission lines. Until 2 years ago, the siting of electric transmission lines was under the exclusive control of the States. The Federal Power Act gave neither the Secretary of Energy nor the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to site transmission lines. The States tended to make their siting decisions in the best interests of their citizens, not necessarily in the best interests of the citizens of neighboring or even distant States that might benefit by the long distance transmission of electricity. Two years ago, in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which I worked on with Senator Domenici, which amended the Federal Power Act to provide what is called the Federal backstop siting authority. Specifically, we directed the Secretary of Energy to conduct a comprehensive national study of electric transmission congestion once every 3 years. We then authorized the Secretary to designate, based on the study, any geographic areas experiencing electric transmission congestion as 'national interest electric transmission corridors.' The Secretary completed the first congestion study last August, and he has begun proceedings to designate the first national interest corridors. Designation of an area as a national interest corridor is likely to have serious consequences.”