,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agdh  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #ah1      
#bjbc,mr4 ,heinrich introduced the      
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,energy  
and ,natural ,resources  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
require the ,federal ,energy ,regulatory
 ,commission to reform the interregional
 transmission planning process1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,interregional 
,transmission ,planning ,improvement    
,act of #bjbc4  #b4 ,increasing         
effectiveness of interregional          
transmission planning  7a7 ,in general  
,the ,federal ,energy ,regulatory       
,commission 7referred to in this section
 as the ,commission7 shall ensure-- 7#a7
 the effectiveness of existing planning 
processes for identifying interregional 
transmission projects that provide      
economic1 reliability1 and operational  
benefits1 taking into consideration the 
public interest1 the integrity of       

markets1 and the protection of          
consumers2  7#b7 any changes to the     
processes described in paragraph 7#a7   
promote efficient1 cost-effective1 and  
broadly beneficial interregional        
transmission solutions that are selected
 for cost allocation-- 7,a7 taking into 
consideration-- 7i7 the public interest2
  7ii7 the integrity of markets2  7iii7 
the protection of consumers2  7iv7 the  
broad range of economic1 reliability1   
and operational benefits2  7v7 the need 
for single projects to secure approvals 
based on a comprehensive assessment of  
the multiple benefits provided2  7vi7   
that projects that meet interregional   
benefit criteria should not be subject  
to subsequent reassessment by           
transmission planning authorities2      
7vii7 the importance of synchronization 
of planning processes in neighboring    
regions1 such as using a joint model on 
a consistent timeline with a single set 
of needs1 input assumptions1 and benefit
 metrics2  7viii7 that evaluation of    

long-term scenarios should align with   
the expected life of a transmission     
asset to be not less than #bj years2    
7ix7 that transmission planning         
authorities should allow for the        
identification and joint evaluation of  
alternatives proposed by stakeholders2  
7x7 that interregional planning should  
be done regularly and not less          
frequently than once every #b years2 and
  7xi7 the elimination of arbitrary     
project voltage1 size1 or cost          
requirements for interregional          
solutions2 and  7,b7 regardless of the  
regulatory or business model of the     
entity developing the transmission      
project2 and  7#c7 the use of cost      
allocation methodologies that-- 7,a7    
reflect the multiple benefits provided  
by interregional transmission solutions1
 including economic1 reliability1       
resiliency1 operational benefits2 and   
7,b7 assign costs broadly to customers  
based on the multiple benefits described
 in subparagraph 7,a7 received by       

customers4  7b7 ,recovery of costs ,the 
,commission shall allow a transmission  
developer of an interregional           
transmission project that meets the     
criteria described in subsection        
7a77#b77;,a7 to submit to the           
,commission a request to recover the    
cost of the project if the transmission 
developer demonstrates to the           
satisfaction of the ,commission that--  
7#a7 the project connects more than #a  
planning region2  7#b7 no interregional 
plan that meets the criteria described  
in subsection 7a77#b77;,a7 has been     
adopted by the connected planning       
regions2 and  7#c7 the benefits of the  
project outweigh the costs of the       
project4  7c7 ,rulemaking ,not later    
than #ah months after the date of       
enactment of this ,act1 the ,commission 
shall promulgate a final rule to        
implement this section4