With data centers, electric vehicles and population growth, electricity demand in New Jersey could soar to 15,000 GWh in the coming years, state officials said at a public hearing on a new plan for connecting offshore wind projects to the grid.

Congress and FERC will need to act to update its rules on interregional transmission planning, and likely permitting, if NERC’s Interregional Transfer Capability Study is going to be of any use, experts said on a webinar hosted by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid.

The ultimate future of FERC Order 1920 depends on rehearing, implementation and inevitable litigation, but after reading through the order itself in the past week, many stakeholders see it as an important step forward in expanding the grid.

FERC is set to vote on its long-awaited proposed rule on transmission planning and cost allocation for regional lines at a special open meeting May 13.

FERC appears to be nearing completion on its transmission planning rulemaking, with cost allocation rules and the federal ROFR among the issues at stake.

FERC approved four rate incentives to Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development to serve offshore wind in New Jersey under the State Agreement Approach with PJM. 

With FERC potentially issuing a final rule on transmission planning this year, the issue of whether it should curtail competition is the subject of dueling reports filed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking’s docket.