Planning and Development Pathways to Interregional Transmission

This report was prepared in connection with the National Transmission Planning (NTP) Study, which the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Grid Deployment Office led in partnership with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) (GDO 2024a). The aim of the NTP Study was to identify transmission that will provide broad-scale benefits to electric customers, inform regional and interregional transmission planning processes, and identify interregional and national strategies to accelerate decarbonization while maintaining system reliability. This report provides a high-level assessment of obstacles to deploying interregional transmission, along with a review of potential solutions to such challenges and system actors or organization types who might address each challenge and how. The aim of this report is to complement the NTP Study and other state, regional, and national grid modernization and reform efforts with a focused discussion of the barriers and potential solutions to developing interregional transmission that can unlock benefits otherwise out of reach. While this report does not identify any single silver bullet or make specific recommendations, it continues the ongoing conversation surrounding the nation's energy transition by providing a survey of options that various actors across government and industry can pursue to modernize the grid to meet current and future needs.