Progress being made in expanding US electric grid: Q1 ESAI report

New York (Platts)--18Jan2006

Seven transmission projects under construction, representing $2.1-bil in
investment, show that progress is being made in expanding the electric grid,
according to the first quarter "Transmission Watch" report that Energy
Security Analysis Inc sends to clients. 

     A number of other projects are planned but not yet under construction.   

     ESAI notes that some projects are being developed by independent
transmission companies and it sees the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
pushing the door open for independent transmission companies through its
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on promoting transmission investment. 

     The seven projects under construction are: the Arrowhead-Weston line, a
220-mile, $398-mil line being built by American Transmission Co between
northern Minnesota and central Wisconsin; the Bethel-Norwalk project, a
31-mile, $350-mil project by Northeast Utilities in Connecticut; the 27-mile,
$220-mil Jefferson-Martin line being built by Pacific Gas & Electric on the
San Francisco peninsula; the Neptune line, a 66-mile, $422-mil, underwater
direct-current cable under construction by Atlantic Energy Partners between
New Jersey and Long Island, New York; the Schultz-Wautona project, a 64-mile,
$175-mil line being built in Washington state by the Bonneville Power
Administration; the Stoughton-Boston Reliability project, an 18-mile,
$210-mil, all-underground line by NSTAR in Massachusetts and the
Wyoming-Jackson Ferry line, an 89-mile, $320-mil AEP project between
substations in Virginia and West Virginia. 

     ESAI says the increase in transmission activity stems in part from the
maturation of independent system operators and regional transmission
organizations. It also sees transmission filling gaps as generation investment
wanes and credits "the response of developers to the opportunities that do
exist out there, in spite of the deficiencies in market design."

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http://electricityalert.platts.com.

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