Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Lindsay See expressed general support for transmission incentives and emphasized that the agency must take regulatory stability into account when weighing potential changes.
"Our incentives policy isn't perfect; it's never going to be," See said during a keynote address at the WIRES fall meeting in Washington, DC, on Oct. 23. "But I think it's really important that if the commission is going to consider changes, we do that in a transparent and predictable way."
WIRES is a trade group representing transmission-owning utilities.
Transmission incentives allow utilities to receive monetary benefits for certain actions, such as joining a regional transmission organization. FERC's current incentive policy also allows transmission providers to recover some costs when a project is abandoned for reasons beyond their control.
The policy has been a source of debate at the commission, particularly under former Chairman Mark Christie, who referred to the incentives as "FERC candy." Under Christie's leadership, the commission said in its FY 2026 budget request that it would "review its policy on transmission incentives, transmission planning and efficient use of existing transmission", calling the current approach "overly generous" toward transmission developers.
Previously, former Chairman Rich Glick launched a supplemental proceeding in April 2021 proposing to eliminate the RTO participation incentive after three years. That plan sparked pushback from investor-owned utilities and trade groups who argued that removing the incentive would hurt efforts to support wholesale power markets.
See noted that while she generally supports transmission incentives, Congress explicitly mandated that FERC provide them. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed FERC to approve incentives that promote transmission investments supporting reliability and affordability.
"Congress didn't tell us specifically what that needs to look like, but that is a policy judgment that Congress has made, and there's a lot of wisdom behind it," the Republican commissioner said. "So I see a lot of value there when it comes to advancing our transmission."
However, she acknowledged that FERC must balance its incentives policy with concerns over rising transmission costs for consumers. She noted that if the commission were to change its policy, it should do so clearly and through the proper regulatory channels.
"If it comes to changes [to the policy], I think that's not something that we should be doing on an ad hoc basis," See said. It's "something that commissions should be considering through appropriate rulemaking or other generic action so there is that kind of transparency and predictability when it comes to the industry."
State involvement
Beyond incentives, See also highlighted that her experience as West Virginia's solicitor general shaped her understanding of the importance of engaging with state regulatory bodies.
"I think being on the state side, there are things where federal leadership and uniformity is incredibly important, and I am really aware of the benefits that I think federal regulatory work can do, but also recognizing the importance of real regional differences and [we need] to make sure we get those perspectives from the states as well," See said. "That definitely informs the way that I do my work here."
The commissioner added that FERC must adopt consistent and legally durable rules to give states and other stakeholders confidence in planning their investments.
"We need to know what the rules of the road are, especially in the energy sector, when we have hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of investment decisions, and we have actions that are taking place on a decades level, not just months or a couple of years," she said.
"That idea of regulatory predictability and certainty, I saw how important that was when I was closer to working with our own state industry and regional industry, and that's something that's informing the work I've done here."
