Insight from policy experts: Jodi Moskowitz, WIRES President
The WIRES Winter Newsletter features a perspective from WIRES’ 2024 President, Jodi Moskowitz, Deputy General Counsel and RTO Strategy Officer at PSEG.? We’re also sharing a timely new report from Grid Strategies on the key role collaboration has played in expanding the transmission system, a preview of our Spring Member Meeting featuring FERC Commissioner Mark Christie as our keynote, updates on the WIRES Tech Talks webinar series, and much more.
Introducing Transmission Thought Leaders – Insight from Policy Experts
The Critical Need to Keep Stakeholders Engaged and Informed by Jodi Moskowitz, WIRES President
It’s my honor and pleasure to be writing to you as WIRES’ president for 2024 and to share my perspective on transmission issues as the Deputy General Counsel & RTO Strategy Officer of New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG).
Recognizing the value of transmission infrastructure, PSEG owns and maintains 834 miles of transmission rights-of-way with 1,560.5 miles of transmission lines over 100kV and 484 miles of 500kV transmission lines. Over the last decade, PSEG has put in service more than 200 transmission and substation projects, developing, or upgrading nearly 600 miles of transmission lines from 69kV to 500kV.? PSEG has completed a number of large projects, many through densely populated portions of New Jersey and through environmentally sensitive areas.
Of the transmission projects I have supported at PSEG, one that stands out is our Susquehanna-Roseland project, which was placed into service in 2015. This was one of seven projects fast-tracked by the Obama administration’s Rapid Response Team for Transmission, streamlining and coordinating government action on the required federal permits. Then, as with many projects today, system reliability drove the need for this project.?
As part of this large, linear project, we constructed 45 circuit miles of new 500kV overhead transmission lines from Pennsylvania into New Jersey and constructed a new 500 kV Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) station, which was state of the art at the time. (The 101 mile Pennsylvania portion of the project was built by PPL.) I had responsibility for obtaining a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for the NJ portion of this project. I learned so much from this experience, and many of these lessons remain highly relevant today.
One important lesson was the need to interact early and often with all impacted stakeholders. This includes regulators, elected officials, environmental groups, legislators, community groups and individual property owners along the project route. This experience has shaped my approach to all regulatory issues and is one that will guide me at WIRES. It is so important to communicate – and in some cases over-communicate – about the value of transmission generally and then specifically about the customer benefits of individual grid upgrades. It is equally important to listen. PSEG made certain route adjustments in response to concerns that were raised and was constantly seeking to educate and alleviate concerns during the siting process. As President of WIRES, I am committed to always listening to opposing points of view on key transmission policy issues and to seek common ground that will enable the overall objective of 24/7 reliability for customers to be achieved.
Another key learning from the project was the complexity of the permitting process. For Susquehanna-Roseland, the project impacted three National Parks Service units, along a 4-mile-long section of land bookending the Delaware River. The project generated significant opposition from environmental groups because of that work, but ultimately we obtained the necessary federal approvals. These approvals were of course on top of the approvals needed from our state public utility commission, our state environmental permitting agency and certain other federal, state and local agencies. The actual process of building transmission is often messy and complicated. That is why it is so important that the federal government send a clear message about the critical need for transmission, both now and into the future. And of course, WIRES and its members will continue to work with regulators at both the federal and state levels to provide the support that is needed to execute this mission.
According to an independent analysis, to meet our growing clean electricity demands, we’ll need to expand transmission systems by 60% by 2030 and possibly triple those systems by 2050. That means significant investments in transmission infrastructure will be required. As part of WIRES, I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share my past experiences and to learn from one another as the industry moves forward.
– Jodi Moskowitz, WIRES President
WIRES Reports – Fostering Collaboration Would Help Build Needed Transmission
Grid Strategies’ landmark new report finds that collaboration, not competition, has been a key element of efficient U.S. transmission expansion. The report urges policymakers to remove barriers to collaboration to pave the way for large-scale transmission investments that can achieve ambitious clean energy goals while maintaining system reliability and bolstering resilience.
The whitepaper, authored by Rob Gramlich, Richard Doying, and Zach Zimmerman, highlights nearly 30 major transmission expansion projects emerging from collaborative planning efforts in the U.S. These examples demonstrate that coordination, collaboration, and open information sharing leads to real and concrete benefits for electric customers.
Be sure to download this valuable analysis. Link to the report, and link to the one-page summary.
2024 WIRES Spring Member Meeting
We are gearing up for our Spring Member Meeting on April 3-4 in Chicago featuring FERC Commissioner Mark Christie as our keynote, with panels discussing the findings of the Grid Strategy report on the importance of collaboration to efficiently expand the transmission system, and integrated system planning. Visit our event page to learn more about the agenda. Visit our event page to learn more about the agenda.
In December WIRES announced our 2024 officers and board members. WIRES is privileged to have these outstanding transmission professionals on our leadership team!
For more information, visit our leadership page, or view the press release.
Feb 23, 2024 – WIRES Supplemental Comments on Collaboration - RM21-17
See all filings on the WIRES website.
Last Fall, WIRES kicked off a new webinar series to increase awareness of advanced transmission technologies, such as Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and other tools and techniques that have the potential to substantially upgrade and expand our grid. To date we’ve hosted six sessions featuring WIRES Associate Members and have several more scheduled over the next few months.
Missed the webinars??Recordings are available on our website:
10/12/23 – WIRES Tech Talk – CTC Global –?No Transition without Transmission: Advanced Reconductoring and Other GETs
领英推荐
Mark your calendars for the next in the series:
3/19/24 at 2pm ET – Power Engineers
4/23/24 at 2pm ET – Continuum Industries
In total, WIRES’ membership accounts for ~165,000 miles of high voltage transmission, nearly 25% of all transmission lines in the U.S.
The WIRES member community is growing! A warm welcome to our three newest Associate Members: Enline, Epsilon Cable, and Sargent & Lundy.
Associate Member
Continuum Industries is on a mission to enable utilities and developers to take their projects from initiation to permit, as fast as possible, at the lowest possible risk. They are the provider of an AI-powered infrastructure development platform - Optioneer.?The Optioneer platform revolutionizes the way utilities plan and develop new infrastructure. It drives consistent delivery by standardizing project planning, automating repetitive tasks, and enabling project teams to creatively tackle the most challenging problems.
Utilities that have adopted Optioneer say they have been able to kick-start their projects and complete 12 months’ worth of work in as little as 8 weeks.?Optioneer has been used by more than 30 utilities and developers worldwide to assess over 25,000 miles of linear asset options.?To find out more, visit Continuum Industries.
Associate Member
Epsilon Cable is a pioneer and world leader in high performance composite materials thanks to the pultrusion process, developed and mastered by its parent company Epsilon Composite since 1987. This highly efficient technology, combined with the extraordinary properties of carbon fibers makes the perfect solution to manufacture strong durable cores for overhead bare conductors, such as High Temperature Low Sag (HTLS) conductors. A key component in clean energy transition, this new generation of advanced conductors enables easy and cost-effective doubling of the ampacity of overhead lines, while mitigating sag issues and reducing electrical losses, therefore cutting down on CO2 emissions and ensuring a quick return on investment. Epsilon Cable is at the forefront of grid modernization efforts, with a track record of several thousand miles of power lines installed worldwide in the past decade. In addition to its R&D center and pultrusion facilities in France, Epsilon Cable relies on technical support teams in America, Asia, and Europe, as well as multiple stranding partners all around the world. For additional information, please visit Epsilon Cable.
WIRES Executive Director, Larry Gasteiger, has an active speaking and appearance schedule for 2024, including:
11/27/23 – Sidley & Austin – Accelerating Energy Podcast – How Energy Transmission can Save the Grid and Electrify the Economy
12/5/23 – Law360 – Electric grid group chooses deputy GC as president
12/5/23 – citybiz DC – WIRES Announces 2024 Officers and Board of Directors
2/12/24 – Utility Dive – Phillips named FERC chair as Clements decides against second term
2/22/24 – ASCE – Civil Engineering Magazine – Energy Department seeks comment on key transmission corridors
3/4/24 – Bloomberg Law – Lobbying Clash Intensifies Over Utilities’ Right to Build Grid
For a complete listing of earned media, visit the WIRES In the News page.
If you’d like to receive this newsletter and other important event notifications from WIRES in your inbox, join our mailing list. To ensure prompt notification of our LinkedIn newsletter, be sure to click the subscribe button.
Bringing diverse minds together strengthens our grid just as it does teams ?? - like Seneca said, our fates intertwine. #Collaboration #Growth
I agree, Jodi. Susquehanna - Roseland was a great projecr, originating from the PJM RTEP process. If my memory is correct, the line used an existing right-of-way, but even so the permitting process was challenging, which which you describe so well. PSEG and PPL execution was impeccable making the project completed ahead of schedule.