Supreme Court Declines to hear FERC Backstop Appeal

On January 19th, the Supreme Court declined, without comment, to hear an appeal of a 4th Circuit Court decision that refutes FERCs ability to override state transmission line decisions. The 4th Circuit decision does not remove all of FERC’s backstop siting authority, but it affirms that when states deny an application it is not the equivalent of “withholding approval” (the condition under which FERC may step in). In other words, FERC can step in if a state fails to act, but it cannot override a state’s denial of an application.

This is probably not the final word on FERC backstop authority. The Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act, introduced by Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate in March, would legislate backstop authority for FERC for siting for renewable energy transmission lines under specific circumstances. (From the bill’s summary: “This bill allows transmission project developers to apply to FERC for federal backstop siting for green transmission projects that are part of the green transmission grid plan and integrate renewable energy resources from renewable energy zones, or for transmission projects that FERC determines are needed to integrate renewable generation resources.”) For now, this bill is bogged down amidst the larger climate change legislation, and the legislation may still face opposition from state regulators. According to a national survey released last week by the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, “State regulators remain adamantly opposed to greater federal transmission routing and siting authority. They are concerned about cost, unmanageable procedures and the enormous gap between local customers and federal bureaucrats.”