Clean Energy on FERC’s Agenda as Agency Eyes Utility Grid Powers

If this year in Washington is remembered for the passage of historic infrastructure legislation, the next 12 months is likely to dictate whether federal energy regulators will fast-track those dollars into projects that support the Biden administration’s climate agenda and clean energy goals.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and lawmakers are weighing whether to roll back the grid-planning power of electric utilities and incumbent transmission owners that have long wielded influence in those decisions. Companies clamoring to make grid improvements want more competition to accelerate the connection of renewable energy generators.

That debate is a central point of contention before ...