Points for Further Comment

Supplemental Comments of the Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation (CREPC) April 14, 2006 DOE’s Notice of Inquiry on “Consideration for Transmission Congestion Study and Designation of National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors” 1. CREPC Supports the Two-Step Process Proposed by DOE Staff at the March 29, 2006 Technical Conference At the beginning of the March 29 Technical Conference, DOE Staff proposed a possible new two-step approach to the national corridor designation process. Under this suggested approach, DOE would initially identify “Constraint Areas,” i.e., areas where a “problem in the transmission infrastructure” has been identified. In designating such Constraint Areas, DOE would remain “agnostic” regarding the appropriateness of a wires or a non-wires solution to the constraint, but the identification of a Constraint Area would lead to further assessments and proposals on the part of the stakeholders in the state or region in question regarding the best and most cost-effective means of resolving the constraint. If this assessment showed that a transmission wires solution was the most appropriate solution to addressing the constraint, DOE would give further consideration to a NIETC designation. It is worth noting that this proposed two-step process is entirely consistent with the initial comments of WIEB/CREPC submitted to DOE in early March, and with those, as well as of other Western stakeholders, ...