6.6. ERMUSR 01-11-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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and FERC sho~ti~s that it will in the ft.it_ttre act aggressiveh~ to fulfill its FPA responsibilities, it will be ver~~ dif{icul~ to "mope fast the past.." !Many public po~~~~er systems in tl~e West feel like tltcv have lived in a restructuring Puri dish for the ~>ast sc~°eral years, and they have little appetite for nc~~~ experiments. Regional Practices and Institutions that Meet the Needs of Particular Regions Should Be Encouraged In some regions without R~I~Os, cost-effective improvements have been made to f~3cilitate the reservation and scheduling of transmission and to encourage a more active secondary marker. For example, under public power leadership, t~~~enty public power and investor-owned entities in the West have jointlti~ developed the wesT~I'rans.net Open Access Same-time Information System ("0:1SIS") site. Prospective transmission customers can submit one electronic query to this OASIS for transmission service o~°er multiple U-ansmission s~~stems. Innovations such as these enjoy widespread support, not onh~ among non-jurisdictional utilities but also among man}' rnerchanrs and IOUs doing business in the region. i\larket monitoring is another function that entities are exploring for provision on a regional bads, even without an RTO. If such practical, least-cost Many APPA members initiatives can replicate benefits that an RTO is supposed to belleVe that emphasis provide at substantially less cost than a "traditional° RTO, then these outcomes may well be superior for that region. Rather on regional transmission than condemning such regional efforts as "inferior" to the planning and expansion, outcomes under a full-0edged RTO reg~irne, these efforts should Without the COmpllCatlOnS be fostered, and similar efforts in other areas encouraged. introduced by RTOs, is a preferable strategy for Open Regional Transmission Planning Is Critical making cost-effective And Can Be Accomplished Without an RTO improvements In the h1an~~ APPA members believe that emphasis on regional adequacy and reliability transmission planning and expansion, without the complications Of t~anSI111SSlon. introduced by RTOs, is a preferable strategy I~or maki~ig cost- effective improvements in the adequacy and reliability of transmission. In non-RTO regions, AYPA members (as well as many jurisdictional utilities) retain the obligation to serge, ~1hich provides a strong incentive to plan for and ingest in transmission necessary to rnect t}ieir needs. This planning must be inclusive and meet the needs of all utilities serving load on a comparable basis. The y~1'estern Interconnection provides an example of an approach to transmission planning that pre-dates RTOs, transcends RTO boundaries 20 Restructuring at the Crossroads: FERC Electric Policy Reconsidered