CRS Report for Congress
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
Electric Power Transmission: Background and
Policy Issues
Stan Mark Kaplan
Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy
April 14, 2009
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40511
Electric Power Transmission: Background and Policy Issues
Congressional Research Service
Summary
This report provides background information on electric power transmission and related policy
issues. Proposals for changing federal transmission policy before the 111th Congress include S.
539, the Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act, introduced on March 5,
2009; and the March 9, 2009, majority staff transmission siting draft of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee. The policy issues identified and discussed in this report include:
Federal Transmission Planning: several current proposals call for the federal government to
sponsor and supervise large scale, on-going transmission planning programs. Issues for Congress
to consider are the objectives of the planning process (e.g., a focus on supporting the development
of renewable power or on a broader set of transmission goals), determining how much authority
new interconnection-wide planning entities should be granted, the degree to which transmission
planning needs to consider non-transmission solutions to power market needs, what resources the
executive agencies will need to oversee the planning process, and whether the benefits for
projects included in the transmission plans (e.g., a federal permitting option) will motivate
developers to add unnecessary features and costs to qualify proposals for the plan.
Permitting of Transmission Lines: a contentious issue is whether the federal government should
assume from the states the primary role in permitting new transmission lines. Related issues
include whether Congress should view management and expansion of the grid as primarily a state
or national issue, whether national authority over gr