What is the National Transmission Needs Study?
The National Transmission Needs Study (Needs Study) is an assessment of transmission capacity constraints and congestion on the Nation’s electric transmission grid that may be adversely impacting consumers. The Needs Study, formerly known as the National Electric Transmission Congestion Study (Congestion Study), serves as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE or Department) triennial state of the grid report. The Needs Study fulfills a Congressional requirement to conduct assessments of national electric transmission capacity constraints and congestion not less frequently than once every 3 years, as required by Section 216(a)(1) of the Federal Power Act. The Needs Study assesses publicly available data and more than 120 recently published reports that consider historic and anticipated future needs given a range of electricity demand, public policy, and market conditions. The Needs Study identifies historic and near-term future transmission needs through 2040.
How does the Needs Study differ from previous DOE Congestion Studies?
While previous Congestion Studies were limited to considering only historic transmission constraints and congestion, the 2023 study considers both historic and anticipated future transmission constraints and congestion as required by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Section 40105 (Pub. L. 117-58).
Does the Needs Study provide specific solutions to address transmission needs?
The Needs Study does not provide specific transmission solutions to address needs identified in the Study and does not conduct additional modeling to prescribe transmission build out. Rather, the Needs Study assesses historic and anticipated future transmission constraints and congestion across the U.S. and provides valuable information for transmission planning entities, industry, state and local governments, policymakers, and other stakeholders to focus their transmission expansion efforts and activities on areas of greatest transmission need.
In instances where the data underlying findings of transmission need in certain regions are absent from the Needs Study, does that mean no transmission need exists in that region?
DOE acknowledges that lack of data access makes determining transmission need difficult in some regions, particularly in the non-RTO/ISO regions like the Southeast and Florida. The absence of data does not necessarily indicate that there is no need for new transmission.
How did DOE conduct outreach and engagement when developing the Needs Study?
DOE announced its intent to conduct the Needs Study in January 2022. In October 2022, DOE released a draft of the Needs Study to the states, tribes, and regional entities, fulfilling the statutory requirement to consult with these entities during the Needs Study drafting process. States, tribes, and regional entities received a consultation draft study and were given a 30-day period to provide comments. DOE also conducted a series of six audience-specific informational webinars for consultation entities and made staff available for phone calls and meetings to provide further information. Over the course of the 30-day consultation comment period, DOE received nearly 180 comments from 20 different consultation entities.
On February 24, 2023, DOE released a draft National Transmission Needs Study for public comment and feedback. DOE requested feedback on the analysis used, gaps, conclusions, or any other comments or suggestions for improving the public draft study and accepted public comments over the course of a 45-day public comment period, which closed on April 20, 2023. On March 3, 2023, GDO hosted a webinar providing an overview of the draft National Transmission Needs Study.
How did DOE incorporate comments received during the consultation and public comment periods into the Needs Study?
DOE staff made significant revisions to the draft Needs Study in response to comments received during both the consultation and public comment periods. In Appendix A-2 of the draft Needs Study, DOE published a detailed comment matrix documenting each individual comment received over the course of the consultation comment period.
Comments received over the course of the public comment period can be found in a compilation of public comments. A public comment synthesis and discussion of DOE revisions to the Needs Study in response to comments received during the public comment period can be found in Appendix B of the final Needs Study.
Did DOE formally consult with Tribes during the development of the Needs Study?
Development of the Needs Study is guided by DOE Order 144.1 “Department of Energy American Indian Tribal Government Interactions and Policy.” The Needs Study has been distributed to and open to comment from tribal entities as part of the consultation draft stage and the public comment draft stage. This serves as initial outreach, and specifically addresses Principles II and III from the DOE American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Government Policy, which call for appropriate protocols for consultation with sovereign tribal nations and the creation of mechanisms for early notice, outreach and integration of Indian Nations into DOE decision making processes, inviting Tribes to provide input at this first, preliminary stage of the NIETC designation process.
The Needs Study is an assessment of the power grid and does not establish Federal policy on any specific lands. Any subsequent actions which would establish Federal policy on specific lands would trigger formal Tribal Consultation and further engagement with States.
How does DOE plan to use the findings from the Needs Study?
This Needs Study will inform DOE as it coordinates the use of its authorities that relate to electric transmission. For example, the results of this needs assessment can inform DOE’s implementation of various provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act relating to transmission expansion, grid resilience, and grid technology. This Needs Study will also support the implementation of existing Department programs, including funding programs, technical assistance and broader transmission planning activities, and the potential designation of National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs).
How does the Needs Study relate to the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) designation process?
For more information regarding the NIETC designation process, please refer to the DOE NIETC designation process webpage and the accompanying NIETC designation process FAQs.
The Needs Study does not designate any NIETCs and its findings do not include any recommendations or specific next steps regarding corridor designation. DOE may designate a NIETC in a geographic area that is experiencing or is expected to experience electric energy transmission capacity constraints or congestion that adversely affects consumers. Such a designation would occur in a separate designation report and would be based on the information included, and the findings made, in the Needs Study and other information relating to electric energy transmission capacity constraints or congestion. Prior to issuing its NIETC designation, DOE would consider alternatives and recommendations from interested parties (including an opportunity for comment from affected states and tribal entities). Federal Power Act Section 216(a)(4) lists other factors that the Department may consider in determining whether to designate a NIETC, including the energy independence and energy security of the United States and reduction in the cost of electric energy for consumers.
If my application submission to receive DOE transmission and grid resilience-related financing involves a project located within an area of need as identified in the Needs Study, will DOE prioritize my application over others?
Project selection for each of DOE’s financing programs is conducted through a competitive process and includes a rigorous review of each application based on established evaluation criteria. Eligible projects must apply to the appropriate financing program to be considered for selection. Project location does not automatically result in an application for, or participation in, a financing program.
While the findings of the Needs Study will support the implementation of existing Department programs, including the Department’s numerous funding programs, the findings on their own do not establish a priority or preference for any particular project in a competitive selection process.
In the event DOE financing or participation in public-private partnership is contingent upon the project’s location within a NIETC, the Needs Study findings would have informed the NIETC designation, as described above, but would not further influence project selection outside of established financing program evaluation criteria.
For more information on DOE’s transmission and grid resilience financing programs, please refer to the Grid and Transmission Program Conductor.
What is the difference between the Needs Study and the National Transmission Planning Study?
The Needs Study is a 1-year effort that assesses near-term transmission needs (through 2040) using existing power sector data and reports from a wide variety of sources. No new modeling was performed to complete the Needs Study and it does not identify specific solutions for assessed transmission needs. Data analyzed in the Needs Study include historic transmission investments (dollars, miles of new circuit, electrical ratings) reported in NERC and proprietary databases, wholesale electricity prices reported by EIA and the independent system operators, generator interconnection queue data from the independent system operators, qualified path data from WECC, the results of several different national-scale capacity expansion models, and the results of over 100 recently published reports from the U.S. government, a wide array of industry consultants and groups, and academic institutions.
The National Transmission Planning (NTP) Study, by contrast, is a 2-year effort utilizing new modeling and analysis that will identify both near- and long-term (through 2050) transmission needs as well as potential transmission solutions. The NTP Study utilizes both national laboratory and industry tools to conduct new modeling and analysis to quantify the transmission needed nation-wide under a wide array of different potential future scenarios of clean energy and demand growth. Types of modeling used includes generation capacity expansion, transmission capacity expansion, production cost modeling, resource adequacy modeling, power flow modeling, and dynamic reliability modeling. Scenarios have been developed with the help of expert industry and State and Tribal government input.