The Department of Energy is seeking proposals from transmission planners for new transmission analysis and planning for very large regions of the country, with a goal of increasing coordination across regions as grid expansions are planned. The new process mandates the involvement of states and other stakeholders, notably mandating that nongovernmental organizations are expected participants. In the east, this process will focus on identifying energy development zones, much as was done in the west under the Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ) work. The process in the west will continue to build upon the WREZ effort.