Agency gives draft corridor status to US Southwest, Mid-Atlantic

Washington (Platts)--26Apr2007

The US Energy Department Thursday named two preliminary "national
interest electric transmission corridors," a move that could pave the way for
controversial eminent domain use by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Congress said in the Energy Policy Act that DOE could make corridor
designations in an effort to relieve major transmission bottlenecks after
issuing a mandatory study on transmission bottlenecks, something it did in
August. The agency said then that Southern California and the area between New
York City and metropolitan Washington suffer from "critical congestion" and
called New England, Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan San Francisco and
the area between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, "areas of concern."

On Thursday, DOE proposed designating a "Mid-Atlantic area national
corridor" that would cover counties in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New
York, Maryland, Virginia, and all of New Jersey, Delaware, and the District of
Columbia. The proposed "Southwest area national corridor" includes counties in
California, Arizona and Nevada.

The designations, when made final, will allow the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission to issue a construction permit for an interstate line
within the corridors if a state does not approve the project within one year.
Such action by FERC would pave the way for the permit holder to acquire the
right-of-way from a court by exercising eminent domain. State officials have
already begun protesting use of the corridor designation process to site lines
within their borders.

"These draft designations set us on the path to modernize our constrained
and congested electric power infrastructure," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
said in a statement. "They are a crucial step toward realizing President
Bush's goal of a modern, more efficient electric power delivery system. I am
confident the department's actions will help facilitate the infrastructure
growth necessary to meet the demands of our growing economy."

DOE will accept public comments on the corridor designation for 60 days,
a step not required by the law but added to the process by the agency in
November because of potential public backlash against projects that seek to
use the EPACT process.

--Mike Schmidt, mike_schmidt@platts.com