Owners of transmission systems stretching across several Southeastern states have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a regional transmission organization (RTO) for the region. If the transmission owners prove successful in their efforts to develop the RTO, it would be one of the nation’s largest, covering more than 39,000 miles of transmission lines with an investment in assets in excess of $6 billion.

Transmission owners that signed up to work on the creation of the RTO are:

The group of transmission owners hopes to establish as expeditiously as possible an RTO consistent with the requirements of FERC. Once the parties agree on process and principles, they will begin discussions to choose a third-party operator and will begin working on the design of the RTO in preparation for a formal filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is targeted for Dec. 15, 2001.

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