Jan 27, 2025
On Monday, the Indiana House of Representatives adopted House Concurrent Resolution 3, which calls for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the United States Department of Energy, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and the United States Congress to speed up the approval rate of electric transmission and generation projects. Representatives voted 71-23 to pass the resolution.
Resolution author Rep. Edmond Soliday, R-Valparaiso, said it is necessary because if a utility company wants to build an entity that would generate electricity, they first must petition the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) or Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM). Due to a long queue, there is currently a four-year wait to get approval for new energy generation.
Soliday said this waitlist makes it hard for utilities to meet energy demand.
MISO and PJM are energy grid management organizations. This means they manage the generation and transmission of energy without owning generators, transmission lines or parts of the electric grid.
The two organizations work to ensure the correct amount of energy is generated and transmitted to utility companies (Duke Energy, AES, CenterPoint Energy, etc.) at the best price for consumers.
Soliday’s resolution requests that the federal government make a new rule in which state utilities propose areas on Indiana’s power grid that need more energy generation and that they get new generation approval prior to areas that need it less.
“All this resolution does, and other states are joining us—we’re saying to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Congress and the NERC, you’ve gotta change the system. You’ve got to prioritize,” Soliday said.
Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, opposed the resolution because of concerns about investor-owned utilities being able to jump the line in front of entrepreneurial energy companies that might offer sustainable or clean energy sources.
“People will be waiting in line for a long time and going through this process, and suddenly they’re going to have the investor-owned utility jump in front of them. All the time their capital is tied up. It’s at risk. They’re waiting to get an answer,” Pierce said. “Those of you who are in the business world, you know what it’s like to have your capital committed and you just can’t get the approvals you need to get things going. … I think this is going to make that worse.”
Soliday responded to Pierce’s argument, saying that when entrepreneurs do receive approval, most cannot afford to build transmission lines, so they do not become new energy generators.
“All we’re saying is, ‘MISO, these are the things that have been approved. These are the things that will meet certificates of public need and public convenience. Put them in the right priority so we can continue to serve businesses and folks,’” Soliday said. “All we’re doing is saying, ‘Clean up the mess.’”
Anna Cecil is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
