PCCA Journal|2
nd
Quarter 2015
29
improves reliability and benefits custom-
ers by enabling utilities to deploy new
technologies, such as advanced monitor-
ing systems, that help to make the grid
more flexible and more resilient,” said
EEI Vice President of Energy Delivery
Jim Fama. “These investments also
relieve transmission congestion, facilitate
wholesale market competition, and sup-
port a diverse and changing generation
portfolio that includes more renew-
able resources, such as wind and solar
power.”
The report highlights a cross-section
of more than 170 major transmission
projects that EEI member companies
completed in 2014 or have planned
over the next 10 years. These featured
projects, which represent only a portion
of the total transmission investment that
EEI’s members anticipate through 2025,
total approximately $47.9 billion.
The report further shows that of the
transmission projects featured and the
investments planned, $19.2 billion (40
percent) is for large, interstate transmis-
sion projects spanning multiple states;
$22.1 billion (46 percent) is for projects
that support the integration of renewable
resources; $17.4 billion (36 percent) is
for projects where EEI member compa-
nies are collaborating with other utilities,
including non-EEI members, to develop
the project; and $31.5 billion (66 per-
cent) is for high-voltage projects of 345
kilovolts and above. Because transmis-
sion projects are developed to address an
array of needs and deliver a number of
benefits, one project may fall into more
than one category.
“Developing transmission has risks
and challenges. In order to continue to
attract the levels of capital needed to de-
velop transmission projects and to con-
tinue to deploy advanced technologies,
it is critically important that the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission continue
to provide returns on investment that are
commensurate with the level of risk,”
Fama said.
EEI is the association that represents
all U.S. investor-owned electric compa-
nies. Its members provide electricity for
220 million Americans, operate in all
50 states and the District of Columbia,
and directly employ more than 500,000
workers.
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