The U.S. Energy Department formally announced Monday its intentions not to move forward with the regional transmission line across northern Oklahoma that drew strong opposition not just from landowners who feared the use of eminent domain but by state leaders.
However, one regional project was approved that will still reach across part of far the Oklahoma Panhandle. It is the Southwestern Grid Connector Corridor, including parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and a small portion of western Oklahoma.
In the announcement, the Energy Department stated:
The following potential National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) announced in Phase 2 are NOT moving forward in the designation process:
- New York-New England
- New York-Mid-Atlantic
- Midwest-Plains
- Mid-Atlantic
- Delta-Plains
- Mountain-Northwest
DOE’s decision to not move these potential NIETCs forward does not constitute a finding that there are no transmission needs in these areas; rather, DOE is exercising its discretion to focus on other potential NIETCs at this time and may in the future revisit these or other areas through the opening of a new designation process.
Oklahoma’s project was the Delta-Plains. But the Energy Department offered no further explanation for the cancellation. It gave no indication if the opposition forcefully made by legislative leaders, the governor and attorney general were the cause of the decision not to move ahead. Instead, it focused on the projects that did receive approval.
Senate President Pro Tem-Elect Lonnie Paxton of Tuttle was also among those who was relieved the 6435-mile long, 18-mile wide federal energy corridor was scrapped. He said it would have resulted in the seizure of private property for electric transmission lines.
“No landowner should be subjected to this kind of federal overreach,” Pro Tem-Elect Paxton said. “I am proud of my state partners who stood up for property owners and the rights of Oklahomans who had grave concerns about this project that provided no benefit to our state. It is unacceptable for the federal government, with an outgoing administration, to try and push through a project that would burden Oklahomans. The cancelation of this project shows that state leaders stand ready to defend our citizens and push back against federal overreach.”
Here’s how the Monday DOE announcement was headlined: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Three High-Priority Areas Advancing in National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designation Process.
The statement continued:
In a continued effort to expedite the build out of a resilient and reliable electric grid, today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a list of three potential National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) moving to the next phase of the designation process. A NIETC is an area of the country where DOE has determined the lack of adequate transmission harms consumers and the development of transmission would advance important national interests in that area, such as increased reliability and reduced consumer costs. DOE recently established a four-phase process for NIETC designation; the potential NIETCs moving to Phase 3 of the designation process are:
- Lake Erie-Canada Corridor, including parts of Lake Erie and Pennsylvania
- Southwestern Grid Connector Corridor, including parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and a small portion of western Oklahoma
- Tribal Energy Access Corridor, including central parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and five Tribal Reservations
These potential NIETCs have been significantly refined since the release of the 10 potential NIETCs in May 2024, and each were renamed to better describe their location and purpose. DOE made these refinements in response to comments received from the public and its continued analysis of the value of NIETC designation to spur needed transmission investment.
A lack of transmission infrastructure can directly contribute to higher electricity prices, more frequent power outages from extreme weather, and longer outages as the grid struggles to come back online. In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law amended the Federal Power Act to authorize the Secretary of Energy to designate any geographic area as a NIETC if DOE determines that consumers are currently harmed by a lack of transmission in the area or are expected to suffer harm from a lack of transmission in the future. DOE may also consider whether development of new transmission would advance important national interests for that region, such as increased reliability and reduced consumer costs, when designating NIETCs.
In December 2023, DOE’s Grid Deployment Office announced a new four-phase process for designating NIETCs. The process aims to maximize opportunities for public input throughout each of the phases to help DOE identify narrow geographic areas where transmission is urgently needed and where NIETC designation could help accelerate solutions.
DOE initiated the first phase of the new process by opening a public comment window for suggestions on where DOE should consider designating NIETCs. In May 2024, DOE initiated Phase 2 of the process by releasing a preliminary list of 10 potential NIETCs, including maps with rough approximation of boundaries and a high-level explanation of the transmission needs within the potential NIETCs. DOE also opened a public comment window.
The announcement today initiates Phase 3 of the designation process, the public and governmental engagement phase, during which DOE will continue to refine geographic boundaries, determine the appropriate level of environmental review for each NIETC, if any, and conduct any required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other applicable federal statutes, conduct robust public and governmental engagement, and prepare draft designation reports.
Additionally, DOE is aware of potential impacts to military testing, training, and operations and will continue working with the DoD Military Aviation and Assurance Siting Clearinghouse to address these impacts as these potential NIETCs are further refined in Phase 3.
DOE is also publicly releasing detailed maps of each of the three potential NIETCs moving to Phase 3, including underlying geographic information system data. A 60-day comment period is now open to solicit comments on DOE’s proposed public engagement framework and possible scope of analysis of the potential NIETCs, including environmental, cultural, or socioeconomic effects should DOE designate any of the potential NIETCs. Additional public engagement will occur after this initial comment period. In addition, DOE is providing the names of known transmission projects under development within the potential NIETCs, as well as anticipated next steps of the NIETC process.
DOE combined and refined the boundaries of four of the 10 potential NIETCs from Phase 2 to form the boundaries of the three potential corridors proceeding to Phase 3.
