NEWS: Competitive transmission projects tend to hit the grid quicker (and more cheaply).

This trend holds for greenfield lines in CAISO, MISO, SPP, and ISO-NE, per a new R Street analysis covering nearly a decade of major projects. They found the starkest differences in ISO-NE (where incumbent utility-developed lines took around double the time). The exception? PJM, where competitive lines take around 20% longer.

Finished competitive projects also tend to cost around 30% less. The report attributes these advantages to: 1) in-service date commitments with late penalties 2) capital cost caps and 3) capital structure commitments.

Meanwhile, utilities in MISO and SPP territory are gunning for a five-year moratorium on competitive bidding for major transmission projects…claiming that this process slows development. But this fresh data doesn’t exactly help their case. 🤔