The America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide assistance for the development of interconnection-based transmission plans for the Eastern and Western Interconnections, and for ERCOT.  WECC received notification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on December 18, 2009 that it has been awarded $14.5 million in funding from the ARRA to conduct interconnection-wide electric transmission planning studies in the Western Interconnection.

The funding allows WECC to significantly expand existing regional transmission planning activities and broaden stakeholder involvement in planning processes.  These activities, managed by the Transmission Expansion Planning Policy Committee (TEPPC), will evaluate long-term regional transmission needs that factor in variables including electric demand, generation resources, energy policies, technology costs, impacts on transmission reliability, and emissions.  The resulting transmission plans will provide high quality, credible information on transmission infrastructure requirements to decision makers at all levels. 

WECC will seek guidance throughout the process from a broad set of stakeholders including representatives from states and provinces, utilities, agencies, non-governmental organizations, energy developers, and consumer advocates and expects to begin the project in the first quarter of 2010 with the formation of a multi-stakeholder Scenario Planning Steering Group and the development of a transmission study work program.

Organizations and individuals that are interested in participating in these regional transmission planning activities can express interest by joining our email list (link above).  This will ensure you receive project updates, meeting notices, and requests for proposals.