National transmission grid study

The National Energy Policy Plan directed the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct a study to examine the benefits of establishing a national electricity transmission grid and to identify transmission bottlenecks and measures to address them. DOE began by conducting an independent analysis of U.S. electricity markets and identifying transmission system bottlenecks using DOE’s Policy Office Electricity Modeling System (POEMS). DOE’s analysis, presented in Section 2, confirms the central role of the nation’s transmission system in lowering costs to consumers through increased trade. More importantly, DOE’s analysis also confirms the results of previous studies, which show that transmission bottlenecks and related transmission system market practices are adding hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers’ electricity bills each year. A more detailed technical overview of the use of POEMS is provided in Appendix A. DOE led an extensive, open, public input process and heard a wide range of comments and recommendations that have all been considered.1 More than 150 participants registered for three public workshops held in Detroit, MI (September 24, 2001); Atlanta, GA (September 26, 2001); and Phoenix, AZ (September 28, 2001).