Central ND News

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has made a decisive move on its transmission planning cost allocation rule. In a 2-1 decision, the Commission adopted Order 1920, with Commissioner Mark Christie dissenting.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, expressed his concerns about the decision. He stated, “The rule issued by FERC today on transmission planning is an assault on the sovereignty of the states and the two most basic mandates of the Commission: affordability and reliability. At the behest of radical environmentalists, FERC is diluting the principle of 'just and reasonable rates' by socializing the cost of massive transmission projects on ratepayers even if they may not directly benefit."

He further elaborated that expanded benefits would mean more ratepayers footing the bill. "North Dakotans are used to being the backbone of an affordable and reliable grid, but this rulemaking will force my constituents into the unaffordable and unreliable grid Democrats dream about," he said.

Senator Cramer also warned about potential implications for infrastructure, stating that this would require three times more miles of high voltage overhead power lines than currently exist, along with vast landscapes of wind turbines and solar panels – all dependent on intermittent weather conditions and imported batteries from China.

"Commissioner Christie and I, along with others have built a long record, warning FERC of the folly of building transmission policy around unrealistic environmental public policy objectives rather than sound engineering,” he added.

Before voting to adopt the rule, Senator Cramer had sent a letter in September 2023 to FERC requesting that they prioritize reliability over what he referred to as 'the Democrats’ transmission wishlist'. Additionally, in May 2023, Senator Cramer penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal outlining principles needed to reach a commonsense agreement on transmission.