WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) along with U.S. Representatives Kathy Castor (D-Fla.-14) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.-20) sent a letter to U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Willie Phillips and Commissioners Allison Clements and Mark Christie urging the Commission to adhere to the Federal Power Act and implement a shared savings incentive that promotes the deployment of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) to expand transmission capacity and meet rapid growth in electricity demand. GETs are technologies that support the capacity, efficiency, and improved operation of new or existing transmission facilities. 

“Deployment of GETs is needed to address new electricity demand and clean energy deployment challenges. After years of steady electricity demand, the U.S. is returning to a period of substantial demand growth driven by electrification of heating and transportation, new data center development, and the reshoring of industrial and manufacturing facilities. Meanwhile, a lack of transmission capacity is preventing new clean energy supply from coming online,” wrote the Members. 

“We are encouraged by FERC’s consideration of a shared savings incentive for GETs and urge the Commission to implement that type of incentive, which is the most promising structure to achieve what Congress intended—a rapid and cost-effective deployment of innovative technologies. Stakeholder feedback to FERC’s September 2021 workshop and NPRM demonstrate broad support for the value of GETs, a recognition of the slow pace of GETs deployment in the U.S. compared to peer nations, and support for shared savings as a key solution to the issue,” the Members continued. 

The Members concluded: “All signs point toward the need to rapidly expand our electric grid to ensure reliability, affordability, and the achievement of our nation’s climate goals. Nineteen years after Congress first directed FERC to support the deployment of technologies like GETs that increase the efficiency and capacity of the transmission system, we are hopeful that the Commission will recognize, as we do, the urgency of the current moment and implement a shared savings incentive.” 

Read the full text of the letter. 

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