Report, Mind the Regulatory Gap: How to Enhance Regional Transmission Oversight

This November 2024 report from RMI observes that trends in transmission spending have recently favored inefficient, lower-voltage local projects, as opposed to high-voltage, regional lines. The authors contend that this is largely as a result of regulatory gaps at the state, regional, and federal levels. This trend runs the risk of causing upgrades to the US grid to be made in a more costly and inefficient manner. In addition, the lack of robust review of local projects means they may be costlier and have greater land use and environmental impacts than larger, well-planned regional projects.

The report lays out 11 recommended reforms at the state, regional, and federal levels to help to close the regulatory gap.