July 6th is the last day to leave comments with the DOE concerning NIETC at http://nietc.anl.gov/involve/comments/index.cfm . How important is this? If the National Interest Electric Transmission Congestion Corridors becomes a reality, then even if WVPSC rejects TrAIL we will still have to contend with the fact that FERC may implement TrAIL. TrAIL won't be the last transmission line we end up opposing due to the fact that every large power utility in the United States has signed up for an early inclusion in Section 1221(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
How can you comment?:
Many feel the comment period should have been extended, so at the very least send in a comment saying NO to the question " Would designation of one or more National Corridors in these areas be appropriate and in the public interest?," and request that the comment period be extended for the public.
I used these guidelines provided by DOE in their Congestion Study document to provide comments to questions they have for the public:
1. Would designation of one or more National Corridors in these areas be appropriate and in the public interest?
A. Does a major transmission congestion problem exist? B. Are key transmission constraints creating the transmission congestion? C. What is the magnitude of the problem? D. What are the relevant transmission or non-transmission solutions?
2. How and where should DOE establish the geographic boundaries for a National Corridor?
3. How would the costs of a proposed transmission facility be allocated?
It's a lot of fun answering these questions, but I must admit I haven't had enough time to perform adequate research, however I'm giving it my best try. Keep in mind that the deregulation of the electricity market in 1996 is a key factor in today's congestion, due to shoddy practices by Power Utilities like Enron. It's not clear to me as a Citizen of the United States of America that we actually have a congestion problem, but what we do have are businesses very interested in making money under the guise that the National Security of America is under threat. In that case, the DOE should be interested in creating a decentralized electricity solution, and should recognize that Global Warming is a much greater threat to National Security than the energy economics of congestion. Here's how I answered 1(C).
C. What is the magnitude of the problem?
It's an insignificant problem compared to Global Warming. This is a perfect time for the DOE to become a significant part of the Global Warming solution. In the process of applying practices that reduce Global Warming, the transmission congestion problem will dissipate and eventually disappear.
Jonathan