In testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Large Public Power Council (LPPC) – an organization comprised of 23 of the nation's largest locally owned and controlled power systems – told lawmakers that LPPC supports transmission development to deliver renewable resources and ‘enhanced federal siting authority’ to achieve that objective.
However, the group raised concerns about proposed interconnection-wide cost allocation plans and attempts to create ‘a new system-planning bureaucracy.’
Testimony was presented by James Dickenson, managing director and CEO of JEA, a municipally owned electric and water utility based in Jacksonville, Fla. He spoke on behalf of the LPPC.
‘LPPC believes that the users of proposed new transmission facilities should pay for them,’ Dickenson stated. ‘Proposals for interconnection-wide cost allocation for new transmission are unnecessary and may well discourage the development of economical alternatives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as energy efficiency and on-site renewables.’
The LPPC testimony also emphasized that LPPC supports existing transmission planning processes; however, the public power group asserted that ‘state siting authority is not sufficient to address interstate transmission for renewable resources.’
SOURCE: Large Public Power Council
