Regional

Backers of a proposed regional transmission organization (RTO) in the Southeast known as SeTrans last week said that they are suspending efforts related to forming the RTO, saying that it is “highly unlikely that consensus support and acceptance for the SeTrans RTO will be forthcoming from all applicable state and federal agencies.”

The board of directors of ISO New England Inc. last week decided to move ahead with the creation of a regional transmission organization (RTO) for New England and plans to file a joint proposal with New England transmission owners at FERC by the end of October.

FERC last week moved to provide guidance and clarification related to the elements of filings made by regional transmission organizations (RTOs) in response to a decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Florida Energy Office (FEO) will be holding regional meetings throughout the state to get public input into development of an energy plan incorporating resources and conservation to provide for an increasing population, particularly in the most populated and fastest-growing southeast area of the state.

The dominant pipeline market in natural gas will always be regional, but companies’ strategic sights increasingly will be global, as the geographic dislocation of reserves to market is partly mitigated by new ways of linking stranded fields and customers, according to a report released on Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The dominant pipeline market in natural gas will always be regional, but companies’ strategic sights increasingly will be global, as the geographic dislocation of reserves to market is partly mitigated by new ways of linking stranded fields and customers, according to a report released on Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

ISO New England Inc. last Thursday said that its new standard market design (SMD) for the region will become operational on March 1, 2003. The move follows failed pleas by Connecticut’s attorney general that the grid operator delay implementation of the SMD proposal out of concern that it will spike electric rates in the state.

FERC last Wednesday signaled its intention to conditionally approve choices made by former Alliance regional transmission organization (RTO) members to make their RTO homes in either the PJM Interconnection or the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO).

Any examination of Maine’s electric utilities joining a regional transmission organization (RTO) that would include northern Maine and parts of Canada shouldn’t work from the assumption that such an RTO, in and of itself, will automatically yield a range of benefits for the state’s electricity consumers, a number of industry stakeholders recently told the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC).