The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a plan for ISO New England to review utility-planned "asset condition" projects — local transmission refurbishments that have typically received little regulatory oversight. ISO-NE will assess each project's need, cost-effectiveness, and potential alternatives, and will take on the formal advisory role in January after already reviewing some projects this year.
FERC commissioners David Rosner and Judy Chang wrote concurring statements encouraging other regions to create similar arrangements. Rosner said that building trust in infrastructure needs could speed permitting and improve construction outcomes, while Chang suggested extending the expert review to other types of local transmission projects beyond asset condition work.
The plan drew support from stakeholders, including states, and follows complaints from ratepayer advocates. In May, New England advocates filed a complaint over a roughly $360 million Eversource asset condition project in New Hampshire. Ohio's ratepayer advocate has also pushed FERC to address local transmission projects there, citing more than $4.3 billion in planned work with inadequate oversight.
New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis said he is "cautiously optimistic" the reviewer paradigm will make a difference, noting that Eversource withdrew one of two projects considered by ISO-NE as interim reviewer. Eversource, however, pushed back on an ISO-NE consultant's finding that an $82.4 million project near Boston was not needed in the near term, arguing that proactive replacement should not require evidence of impending failure.