FERC Proposes NOPR On Backstop Siting Authority

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) possesses a little-discussed and never-used limited authority to site certain transmission lines when state siting authorities fail to approve those lines. Called FERC's "backstop" siting authority, a pair of federal appellate defeats rendered it dormant. But recent congressional amendments may have thrown it a lifeline. To implement those changes, FERC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR). In this client alert, we begin by explaining the origin of FERC's authority and then address new legislative developments, FERC's proposed reforms, and potential implications of this rulemaking effort.

In short, the NOPR proposes to implement FERC's resurrected authority to grant construction permits when a state has denied siting approval, speed the FERC filing process, address landowner protections, and achieve environmental justice objectives.