The FERC proposal for line ratings could do more for customers and the climate.

Today, the Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT Coalition) submitted comments to FERC on its Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Managing Line Ratings.

The comments are available for download.

On the content of the comments, WATT Coalition Executive Director Rob Gramlich said:

“Ambient ratings are an improvement for many lines, but FERC ‘s NOPR stops short of unlocking the maximum consumer value out their line-rating ruling. The active monitoring from Dynamic Line Ratings offers not only the maximum safe capacity benefits, but also critical data to support reliability and planning. Just like FERC required open access based on available transmission capacity in the mid-1990s, DLR should be required in some cases and allowed in all, to cheaply and rapidly improve transmission capacity for those who can make use of it. FERC can support just and reasonable rates by requiring that DLR benefits be assessed if customers request it or if there is evidence of curtailment and congestion due to the current rating methodologies and DLR should be implemented if the assessment shows that they are worthwhile.”

Jay Caspary, Vice President of Grid Strategies and former head of transmission development for SPP said:

“DLR technologies are modular and rapid to deploy or redeploy, as needs change. The investment to install them is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost-savings, and the added situational awareness is also a boon for reliability. In recent modeling by the Brattle Group in their report for the WATT Coalition, Unlocking the Queue, DLR and other grid-enhancing technologies allowed twice the amount of bottled-up renewable energy capacity to come online within 5 years – those cheaper, cleaner resources reduce costs and support public policy goals.”

Media with questions about the comments should reach out to jselker@gridstrategiesllc.com (541-908-5792).