The transmission industry issued a call for large-scale transmission build in February. The Joint Coordinated System Plan (JCSP) dwarfs earlier mid-Atlantic transmission expansion plans, calling for thousands of miles of high voltage transmission lines across the eastern half of the US.

The rationale given for this argued that such build out was necessary to meet the new goals of the Obama administration. Others disagree. One of the primary shortcomings of the JCSP study was its failure to consider local resources. Ten governors issued a letter in which they expressed concern that this proposal could jeopardize renewable resource development efforts in the east and that federal policy should not subsidize one region’s energy industry over another’s. In a similar, but independent response, two grid operators in New York and New England rejected the JCSP study as premature, deficient as a planning document, and in need of additional analyses.

Additional Resources:

Executive Summary: Joint Coordinated System Plan 2008 Overview, January 2009.

East Coast Governors' Letter to Congressional Leadership, May 4, 2009

Letter from New York and New England Grid Operators re: Joint Coordinated System Plan