The U.S. is in the earliest stages of regional OSW coordination and does not yet have a national energy policy to guide design and cost allocation. Nevertheless, the federal government recognizes the need for federal involvement across regional transition operators’ (RTO) borders. The Department of Energy (DOE) is leading the charge with the Building a Better Grid initiative: studying transmission planning on a national scale, leveraging federal financing tools and collaborating with interested parties that run the gamut from states to tribes to industry. DOE has funded the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct the Atlantic OSW Transmission Study. While the study does not prescribe duties to RTOs, states, utilities or developers, it provides guidance on the design trajectory for the industry on the Eastern Seaboard.
Instead of thinking about the coordination process as entirely top-down or bottom-up, the industry must consider which strategy befits each facet of coordination. For instance, actionable interregional transmission planning begins with detailed local transmission planning. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking that indicates a shift toward longer-term planning. The agency may soon require RTOs to plan for a 20-year time horizon. Independently, California Independent System Operator has proactively begun 20-year transmission planning to see that all renewables in disparate areas of California can be integrated. This planning includes scenario analysis with different onshore and offshore reinforcement strategies. By comparing 20-year plans and examining the Atlantic OSW Transmission Study, RTOs can align long-term OSW integration goals.
Within RTOs, it is simpler for states to cooperate with each other. In releasing the OSW Transmission Integration RFI, New England states have taken the first two steps in Power Advisory LLC’s Coordinated Transmission Development framework: First, the states have assessed benefits of coordinated transmission and, second, the collective has agreed to an overall approach.
The Modular Offshore Wind Integration Plan attached to the RFI seems to be in the earliest stages of soliciting a multistate offshore grid, using a phased approach. This document outlines a broad direction for the region’s OSW integration efforts, which can be refined with comments from interested parties. The RFI is the first of its kind in the U.S. and marks an exciting landmark in the coordination of states’ OSW goals.
However, while a bottom-up approach may be a beneficial for transmission planning, many claim that implementing a meshed grid or offshore backbone would require RTO or federal leadership regarding aspects like cost allocation and onshore upgrade coordination. The Business Network for Offshore Wind has suggested a cost allocation model reminiscent of the federal highway system. FERC’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and its Atlantic OSW Transmission Study provide direction, but there is currently no federal effort to allocate costs across RTOs or a plan to coordinate onshore upgrades cohesively.