Time to open 'time-sensitive' transmission projects to Order 1000 competition

As we approach the ten-year anniversary of Order 1000, its promise of competition has largely gone unfilled. Two recent reports, one from the Brattle Group and another from MIT Professor Paul L. Joskow, cast a light on the success of Order 1000 and, in particular, the continued lack of competition to develop electric transmission infrastructure in the United States. The Brattle Group report found that only 3% of all transmission projects nationwide were subject to competition between 2013 and 2017. This isn't how it was supposed to be. Order 1000 made foundational changes to the way regions plan and select transmission for development. It set in motion regional processes for competitive solicitations to meet system transmission needs — removing what amounted to federal monopoly rights for utilities to build transmission within their service territories.