Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
boundaries, they can be subject to the regulatory authority of each of the
many jurisdictions into which they cross. The absence of a “one-stop shop”
capable of offering all necessary approvals for an entire cross-jurisdictional
transmission line project means that any one of the several agencies having
regulatory power over some part of that proposed line is capable of single-
handedly blocking the project. 17 This fragmented, decentralized regulatory
environment can itself impede the siting of transmission facilities for
renewable energy. As one pair of energy scholars describes this problem:
The more regulatory bodies to which an applicant must apply, the
higher the process costs will be and the more likely it is that the
litigiousness of intervenors could drive those costs even higher. The
result could well be to discourage investors from committing to projects
and applicants or potential applicants from building. 18
The fragmented nature of the transmission line approval process in many
countries complicates development efforts because almost any such project
is bound to create some winners and some losers. Even the most socially
valuable interjurisdictional transmission projects tend not to equally benefit
or burden all of the jurisdictions involved. Some jurisdictions may be in
favor of a proposed transmission project for the additional electricity
it could bring within their boundaries or for its potential to facilitate
additional local renewable energy development and the new jobs and tax
revenue that such development could provide. In contrast, other jurisdic-
tions that would host portions of a proposed line may conclude that its
adverse impacts on pristine landscapes or property values would result in
net losses within their boundaries. Jurisdictions in these latter situations
have incentives to exercise whatever authority they possess to prevent the
project from moving forward.
The disadvantages of having too many regulatory authorities involved in
the long-distance transmission process have been evident in connection with
multiple proposed transmission expansions in the United States. Consider,
for instance, the relatively recent conflict over a proposed 230-mile high-
voltage transmission line that would have stretched from Palo Verde,
Arizona, to Devers, California. 19 The line, formally proposed in 2007,
would have enabled more electric power generated in Arizona to be sold to
end-users in California. Because Southern California Edison, a California
utility, had offered to build the line, its real-dollar cost would have been
borne by California ratepayers and not by Arizonans. 20 Still, the project
needed approval from regulators in California and in Arizona. Although
California regulators enthusiastically granted their approval for the line,
Arizona regulators refused to approve it. They expressed concern about
the line's potential environmental impacts on the state and suggested that it
would be nothing more than a “giant extension cord” designed to deliver
Arizona electricity to California consumers. 21 Able to secure a thumbs-up
 
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