US DOE issues final permitting rule to expedite transmission expansion

The US Department of Energy has announced a final transmission permitting reform rule and a new commitment for up to $331 million aimed at adding more than 2,000MW of additional grid capacity throughout the Western United States.

The DOE is issuing a final rule to establish the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) Program, which aims to improve Federal environmental reviews and permitting processes for qualifying transmission projects.

Under the CITAP Program, DOE will coordinate a federal integrated interagency process to consolidate federal environmental reviews and authorizations within a standard two-year schedule while ensuring engagement with tribes, local communities, and other stakeholders.

This final rule implements a May 2023 interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) meant to expedite the siting, permitting and construction of electric transmission infrastructure in the United States.

DOE also announced up to $331 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support a new transmission line from Idaho to Nevada that will be built with union labour — the latest investment from the $30 billion that the Administration is deploying from the President’s Investing in America agenda to strengthen electric grid infrastructure.  

“Under our current regulatory system, it could take more than a decade to get new transmission lines approved and built. Time is a luxury we simply don’t have,” said Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

“These new rules will streamline a process that normally includes over a dozen agencies. In addition, the rules would implement a two-year deadline for approving projects, creating much needed accountability for all parties involved. These fixes will ultimately help us build out and modernize our transmission capacity, leading to greater grid reliability, lower electricity costs for all ratepayers, and new economic opportunities in communities across the country.”

Over the past decade, transmission lines in the United States have been built at half the rate of the previous three decades, often due to permitting and financing challenges, DOE said.

CITAP Program

The CITAP Program is meant to help transmission developers navigate the Federal review process, providing: 

• Improved permitting review with two-year timelines: DOE will serve as the lead coordinator for environmental review and permitting activities between all participating Federal agencies and project developers. DOE will lead an interagency pre-application process to ensure that developer submissions for Federal authorisations are ready for review on binding two-year timelines, without compromising critical National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. DOE says this will “significantly” improve the efficiency of the permitting process for project developers by collecting information necessary for required Federal authorizations to site a transmission facility before starting the permitting process.  
• ‘Sustained integrity’ in environmental review process: DOE will work with the relevant agencies to prepare a single NEPA environmental review document to support each relevant Federal agency’s permit decision making, reducing duplication of work. Further, state siting authorities may participate in the CITAP Program alongside Federal agencies and take advantage of the programme, including the single environmental review document, as a basis for their own decision-making. 
• Transparent transmission permitting: The CITAP Program will require a public participation plan that helps project developers identify community impacts from proposed lines at the outset of the project and encourages early engagement by potential applicants with communities and Tribes. The CITAP Program will allow potential applicants and agencies to coordinate via an online portal, which will allow project developers to directly upload relevant information and necessary documentation and will offer a “one-stop-shop” for their Federal permitting communications. The online portal will also allow participating Federal agencies to view and provide input during the initial document collection process and during Federal environmental reviews. 

Transmission Facilitation Program

DOE also announced the selection of one additional conditional project from the first round of capacity contract applications through the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP). 

Through an investment of $331 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Southwest Intertie Project (SWIP-North) will bring wind energy from Idaho to Southern Nevada and to customers in California. With construction anticipated to start in 2025, the proposed, 285-mile (458.663km) line will bring more than 2,000MW of transmission capacity to the region and create over 300 new union construction jobs.

The SWIP-N line will also provide an alternate route to deliver power supplies during wildfires or other system disruptions. This project will also upgrade a key substation in Nevada, unlocking an additional 1,000 MW of capacity along the existing One Nevada Line, a major transmission corridor in Southern Nevada. 

The National Transmission Needs Study, released in October 2023, estimates that by 2035 there will be a need for 3.3 gigawatts of new transfer capacity between the Mountain and Northwest regions to unlock the power sector emissions savings enabled by the Investing in America agenda.

The SWIP-N project contributes 58% of this interregional transmission need. 

Originally published by Sean Wolfe on Power Grid International.