ConserveLand

Home : Public Policy : Energy and Other Right-of-Way Issues : Transmission : NIETC

National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor

Update - February 3, 2011

In 2008, the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association and Piedmont Environmental Council, along with four other organizations and a Virginia County, filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) final designation of the Mid-Atlantic National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC).

On February 1, 2011, the 9th Circuit Court ruled in our favor, effectively eliminating the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest designations. The court ruled on the basis that DOE failed to conduct an environmental review as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and failed to consult with affected states.

Here's a quote from the opinion:

"We determine that DOE failed to properly consult with the affected States in conducting the Congestion Study and failed to undertake any environmental study for its NIETC Designation as required by the National Environmental Protection Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4332(C). We also determine that these failings were not harmless errors. Accordingly, we vacate the Congestion Study and NIETC designation and remand the cases to the DOE for further proceedings."

This decision will not stop construction of transmission lines that are currently underway (e.g., TrAIL line), but could greatly impact future transmission line proposals.

Read the Decision

Background

A National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) is a geographic area in which new oversight processes and the power of eminent domain can be employed to facilitate the construction of high voltage, interstate transmission lines. The new processes override traditional state siting authority, supplanting long-standing state regulation with new federal oversight. A NIETC is created when so designated by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in response to a request from an entity such as a power company or a regional transmission operator.

Within areas designated as NIETCs, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is granted backstop siting authority, an unprecedented mechanism for overriding state approval processes. Backstop siting authority can be invoked one year after a transmission application has been filed by a transmission company. Many, in particular organizations dedicated to the protection of parks, wild lands, scenic rivers, and historic monuments, are concerned with the threats posed by the design of the backstop siting process and the manner in which the new law is being implemented.

Corridor Designation

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required DOE to conduct a study of electric transmission congestion within one year of the enactment of the law and than every three years thereafter. Based on its conjestion study findings, DOE was required, through EPAct 2005, to designate any geographic area experiencing electric energy transmission capacity constraints or congestion that adversely affects consumers as a national interest electric transmission corridor (“NIETC”).

The DOE Congestion Study (LINK to Congestion Studies) was issued on August 8, 2006. On April 26, 2007, the DOE issued two draft NIETCs—Draft Mid-Atlantic Area National Corridor (some or all counties in Delaware, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) and Draft Southwest Area National Corridor (seven counties in southern California, three counties in western Arizona, and one county in southern Nevada).

On October 2, 2007, DOE announced the final designations of two NIETCs—the Mid-Atlantic Area National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (Docket No. 2007-OE-01 - LINK) and the Southwest Area National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (Docket No. 2007-OE-02 - LINK). DOE affi rmed the NIETC designation orders on March 10, 2008.

Mid-Atlantic Area NIETC

The DOE issued its ruling confirming the inclusion of 52 Pennsylvania counties in the euphemistically named Mid-Atlantic "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor". This newly conferred federal regulatory power will usurp traditional state regulation of electric transmission lines.

This corridor designation will force huge new interstate high voltage lines upon the Pennsylvania landscape through the heavy handed use of new eminent domain powers. The threat to Pennsylvania is immense: two-thirds of the Commonwealth has been designated as part of the Mid-Atlantic National Electric Transmission Corridor. (See DOE Map)

Proposed Powerlines

Southwest Area NIETC

A national electric corridor "threatens over 400,000 acres of roadless forest in southern California,” according to the California Wilderness Coalition. (See DOE Map)