ANTICOMPETITIVE TRANSMISSION DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISKS FOR DECARBONIZATION

For more than twenty years, the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) has sought to increase open access to electricity transmission infrastructure owned by incumbent monopolistic utilities. While these efforts have produced some benefits, incumbent transmission line owners continue to exercis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental law (Portland, Ore.) Ore.), 2019-09, Vol.49 (4), p.885-929
Main Author: Powers, Melissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access control
Air pollution control
Decarbonization
Electric power transmission
Electric utilities
Energy industries
Environmental aspects
Finance
Infrastructure
Laws, regulations and rules
Litigation
Management
Methods
Monopolies
Monopolistic competition
Remedies
Right of first refusal
Services
Transmission lines
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Summary:For more than twenty years, the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) has sought to increase open access to electricity transmission infrastructure owned by incumbent monopolistic utilities. While these efforts have produced some benefits, incumbent transmission line owners continue to exercise market power that allows them to deter and delay streamlined open transmission access. In an effort to minimize the incumbents’ anticompetitive force, FERC passed a law eliminating a federal right of first refusal (ROFR), which had given incumbents preferential rights to build and profit from new regional transmission infrastructure. States responded to FERC’s actions by creating their own state ROFR, which will allow incumbent utilities to expand the scope of their monopolies. Frustrated by FERC’s acquiescence to the new state laws, an independent transmission developer has challenged a Minnesota ROFR on Dormant Commerce Clause grounds. The resolution of the lawsuit could have profound impacts on the transition to a decarbonized, multi-scalar, competitive energy system.
ISSN:0046-2276