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Western commissioners cite federal permitting delays and urge regional coordination for transmission and resource adequacy
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Summary
Western state commissioners described permitting and federal‑land constraints that slow transmission projects, pointed to near‑term resource adequacy concerns and discussed incremental regional market steps such as EDAM and day‑ahead markets.
Western commissioners told the NARUC–FERC collaborative that federal permitting, scattered governance structures and rapid load growth complicate plans to expand and modernize transmission in the West.
A Western presenter (Speaker 11) said the region currently "is resource adequate for a few more years" but warned that retirements, wildfire risk and growing loads (including data centers) strain that margin. He pointed to the Boardman‑to‑Hemingway 300‑mile transmission line — begun under a Bush‑era permitting process in 2007 — and said it remains entangled in federal permitting, illustrating the difficulty of building long transmission corridors across federal lands.
Commissioners described a patchwork of regional organizations (Western Interstate Energy Board, CREPC, RSCs, Markets+ trials and energy imbalance markets) that are incrementally delivering services such as day‑ahead and imbalance markets. Some speakers urged continued bottom‑up development in the West, coupling market services with regional transmission planning while preserving state priorities.
Speakers said the West’s federal‑land footprint and changing administrations can flip permitting outcomes, creating uncertainty for long lead‑time projects. The session did not produce formal actions; participants recommended continued regional collaboration and learning from other RTO footprints’ approaches to planning, cost allocation and governance.
