The Delaware Public Service Commission (DPSC) works to ensure safe, reliable, and reasonably priced cable, electric, natural gas, wastewater, water, and telecommunications services for Delaware consumers. For those services that are moving toward competitive markets, the Commission makes rules to level the playing field between competing providers and resolves disputes between these providers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity. FERC also regulates natural gas and hydropower projects. FERC’s Mission is to assist consumers in obtaining economically efficient, safe, reliable, and secure energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory market means, and collaborative efforts. Learn more at www.ferc.gov.

The electric grid is a complex and interconnected network of facilities that produce electricity (generators), facilities that transmit the electricity (transmission lines, transformers, and substations), and consumers (homes, businesses, and industrial facilities).  Electricity is produced at the numerous generating stations connected to the system, converting renewable, fossil fuel, or nuclear resources to electrical energy.  Electricity is then carried efficiently by high voltage transmission lines to the regions in which it’s needed.

The lower voltage distribution system moves the electricity from local distribution substations and lines, finally reaching your home.

Transmission facilities consist of transmission lines, substations, transformers, and other related equipment. As power plants generate energy, transmission facilities transport that high-voltage electricity from generation facilities to local distribution systems, which then disperse lower-voltage electricity to homes and businesses.  Substations are intersections of transmission lines where electricity can be added and/or removed from the transmission system.  Transformers transfer electricity from one circuit to another while also changing the voltage.

FERC Order No. 1000 is a Final Rule that reforms the Commission’s electric transmission planning and cost allocation requirements for public utility transmission providers. The rule builds on the reforms of Order No. 890 and corrects remaining deficiencies with respect to transmission planning processes and cost allocation methods. Importantly, FERC Order No. 1000 eliminated the federal right of first refusal and opened certain transmission projects to competition.

Competition in regional transmission planning processes introduces new and innovative solutions to the design, construction, finance, and operation of transmission projects.  Most importantly, though, competition has led to the introduction of cost caps that shift the risk of project cost overruns to developers and away from ratepayers.  Without competition, incumbent utilities have not been willing to accept the risk of cost overruns on their transmission projects.

A Right of First Refusal (ROFR) is an anti-competitive statutory provision allowing incumbent utilities to construct, own, and operate new transmission facilities in the absence of competitive bidding. ROFR laws harm consumers in the states in which they are enacted and in nearby states where the costs of new transmission projects are shared.