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Folsom, CA, Dec. 14, 2007 -- The California Independent System Operator Corp. (California ISO) board of governors approved filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a proposal that would give the California ISO the explicit authority to proactively identify and propose transmission projects to reduce congestion and provide economic benefits, ensuring corporation is compliant with FERC Order 890.
Order 890 requires independent transmission grid operators such as the California ISO to have an open, transparent transmission planning process that complies with several main federal tenets.
Part of the Order 890 compliance filing the board of governors approved clarifies the California ISO authority to identify and propose transmission projects that will provide economic benefits. The proposal calls for the California ISO to first assign one of the Participating Transmission Owners (PTO) -- typically one of the major utilities -- to be the project sponsor. If the Participating Transmission Owner chooses not to build the project, the California ISO will have the authority to solicit bids from third-party transmission companies to finance, build and own the project, with the ISO operating the line.
As another avenue for making it easier to get needed infrastructure on line on time, the California ISO is also proposing a change in the dollar threshold for board approval of transmission projects. Currently, the ISO board needs to approve any project with a cost of $20 million or more. The California ISO proposes to increase that to $50 million. The increase reflects the rising cost of transmission components over the past 10 years, which has added to the costs of transmission improvement projects.
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