Industry Reports, Papers and Articles

In this section, WIRES includes reports and articles that include historical and current information which provides insight into the status of the electric transmission industry.

WIRES Reports

Date Title Source
May 2011 WIRES-Brattle Report: "Employment and Economic Benefits of Transmission Infrastructure Investment in the U.S. and Canada" WIRES
January 2011 Smart Transmission: Modernizing the Nation's High Voltage Transmission System WIRES
November 2008 Integrating Locationally Constrained Resources Into Transmission Systems: A Survey of U.S. Practices WIRES
November 2007 A National Perspective on Allocating Cost of New Transmission Investment: Practice and Principles WIRES
Transmission Cost Escalation: Summary and Analysis WIRES

North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reports

Date Title Source
November 2011 NERC 2011 Risk Assessment of Reliability Performance
NERC 2011 Long-Term Reliability Assessment
NERC
2010 NERC 2010 Long-term Reliability Assessment NERC
2009 NERC 2009 Long-term Reliability Assessment
NERC 2009 Scenario Assessment
NERC Analyzes the Challenges of Renewables Integration:
Report Marks Initial Steps on Reliable Integration of Large-Scale Wind, Solar Into Electric Grid
Special Report: Accommodating High Levels of Variable Generation
Accommodating High Levels of Variable Generation
NERC
November 2008 NERC Special Report: Electric Industry Concerns on the Reliability Impacts of Climate Change NERC
October 2008 NERC's New Reliability Assessment Says More Transmission Is Needed to Maintain Bulk System Reliability and Integrate New Generation NERC

Other Reports

Date Title Source
November 2012 Recommendation that DOE Facilitate Development of a Standardized Bulk Power System Database Jay Caspary, Department of Energy
October 2012 Benefits Determination and Cost Allocation Johannes Pfeifenberger
  Assessing the Transmission Outlook UBS
September 2012 Benefits for the 2013 Regional Cost Allocation Review Southwest Power Pool
April 2012 FERC’S March 2012 Energy Infrastructure Report FERC
July 2012 Energy Primer: A Handbook of Energy Market Basics FERC
March 2012 California ISO Updated 2011/2012 Transmission Plan California ISO
FERC’s February 2012 Energy Infrastructure Report FERC
February 2012 Estimated Investment in Transmission Across North America, 2011-2021, in Billions of Dollars TransmissionHub
  Grid Ramifications: Scenarios for the Future Merwin Brown
January 2012 FERC Office of Energy Projects Energy Infrastructure Updated FERC
Transmission Design at the National Level: Benefits, Risks and Possible Paths Forward Webinar, Slides PSERC
State Strategies for Accelerating Transmission Development for Renewable Energy National Governors Assoc.
  Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System National Research Council
December 2011 The Future of the Electric Grid MIT Energy Initiative
2011 EPA Air Quality Report EPA
Renewable Resource/Transmission Development Scenarios California Energy Commission
November 2011 FERC FY11 Performance and Accountability Report FERC
FERC Office of Energy Projects Energy Infrastructure Update FERC
October 2011 ISO New England’s 2011 Regional System Plan ISO N.E.
August 2011 FERC’s Office of Energy Projects Energy Infrastructure Update FERC
Connect the Dots: Transmission and Rural Communities (J. Hladik) Center for Rural Affairs
June 2011 New Study Shows Benefits of Regional Transmission Cost Sharing Anderson Economic Group
May 2011 Harvard Report on Transmission Benefits and Cost Allocation Harvard University
  Future Grid: The Environment Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC)
April 2011 FERC's State of the Market Report FERC
  Grid Futures FortNightly.com
Merwin Brown, Lloyd Cibulka and Alexandra Von Meier
March 2011 Independent Transmission Projects Morgan Stanley
EEI Transmission Projects Report Edison Electric Institute
2011 North American Electricity Fraser Institute
December 2010 Integrating Renewable Energy on the Grid APS Panel on Public Affairs
November 2010 CapX2020 Releases Economic Impact Study, Breaks Ground on Monticello-St. Cloud 345-kV Transmission Project [Read the Study] CapX2020
October 2010 Siting Transmission Corridors — A Real Life Game of Chutes and Ladders The National Electrical Manufacturers Association
September 2010 Regulatory Barriers to a National Electricity Grid Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research
Staff Report on Capacity Reassignment FERC
Transmission Planning and Cost Benefit Analysis Presented by The Brattle Group at EUCI Web Conference
August 2010 Market Characteristics for Efficient Integration of Variable Generation in the Western Interconnection National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Clean and Secure: State Energy Actions National Governor's Association
July 2010 Climate Change, Emerging Renewable Technologies, Carbon Costs and Volatile Fossil Fuel Prices Driving New Business Models Ceres
Combining Balancing Areas' Variability: Impacts on Wind Integration in the Western Interconnection National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Utilizing Load Response for Wind and Solar Integration and Power System Reliability National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Advancing Wind Integration Study Methodologies: Implications of Higher Levels of Wind National Renewable Energy Laboratory
June 2010 Investment in Electric Transmission Will Surpass $606B Worldwide Between 2010 and 2020 Pike Research
May 2010 Perryman Group Study: Typical Texas Residence Could Save $160-$355 Annually with New Lines Delivering Wind Power
[News Release] [Executive Summary] [Full Report]
Perryman Group
  NREL Finds Major Renewables Expansion in the Southwest Requires Up to $11B in New Transmission
[News Release] [Executive Summary (see p.26)] [Full Report]
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
April 2010 Electricity Transmission Cost Allocation Congressional Research Service
  White Paper: Challenges in Integrating Renewable Technologies into an Electric Power System Power Systems Engineering Research Center
  U.S. Department of Energy’s 2009 National Electric Transmission Congestion Study
Read the 2009 Study
U.S. Dept. of Energy
March 2010 PJM Transmission Cost Allocation Paper
See also: PJM News Release (with summary)
PJM
Job and Economic Benefits of Transmission and Wind the SPP Region The Brattle Group
February 2010 Transmission Projects at a Glance Edison Electric Institute
January 2010 Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study: Executive Summary and Project Overview National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  SPP WITF Wind Integration Study Southwest Power Pool
August 2009 Electrical Transmission: Barriers and Policy Solutions Duke University, Climate Change Policy Partnership
  Transmission Siting in the Western United States Western Interstate Energy Board
April 2009 Electric Power Transmission: Background and Policy Issues Congressional Research Service
  U.S. Chamber of Commerce Site Summarizes Opposition to Transmission U.S. Chamber of Commerce
February 2009 Study: Billions Needed to Deliver Wind Power to Eastern Interconnection Joint Coordinated System Plan
January 2009 Keeping the Lights On in a New World Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC)
December 2008 Bottling Electricity: Storage as a Strategic Tool for Managing Variability and Capacity Concerns in the Modern Grid

Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Energy Economy
Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC)
November 2008 Landowner Wind Energy Associations in the West: A model for facilitating gigawatt-scale development Tony Frank and Bill Midcap, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
  Energy Policy and the Environment Report: The Million-Volt Answer to Oil Peter W. Huber, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
  Renewables Call for Transmission Build Energy Risk magazine
October 2008 A 21st Century “Interstate Electric Highway System” – Connecting Consumers and Domestic Clean Power Supplies [see also: Executive Summary] Susan F. Tierney, Ph.D.
Analysis Group
January 2008 Competitive Markets and Transmission: Perfect Together Electric Power Supply Association