| | 9DECEMBER 2024electricity­ have been increasing in many RTOs.The grid of the future requires innovation not only in transmission technologies to be deployed but also in the area of transmission planning, interconnection and operations of the grid. A major FERC rulemaking has recently started to examine what reforms are required in transmission planning and interconnection processes, dubbed "Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation and Generator Interconnection," 176 FERC ¶ 61,024 (2021). Any final order is likely to shape the grid of the future. In this proceeding, FERC has also asked what role GETs can play in the future. Historically, transmissionhas been thought of as a mostly static asset, implying that many of its physical characteristics are deemed fixed.With more experience in GETs deployment over time, a more dynamic and flexible grid can emerge. Undeniably, reliability is front and center, and any GETs application needs to preserve it. A middle ground can be achieved for enhancing market efficiency via deployment of GETs, while reliability, resilience and flexibility are maintained and even improved. For example, process-wise, transmission planning is often focused on top constraints with the highest congestion scoring; in other words, constraints need to become severe enough before solutions are considered. Some of these constraints impede low-cost generation from reaching load today.In operations, generation redispatch has been the standard protocol for addressing binding constraints. This comes with a congestion costthat in some cases could be materially reduced or eliminated.Enhancing current practices via short-term planning and operations studies and processes focused on what transmission limitations could be resolved via GETs could go a long way towards their assessment and deployment. GETs can also be proposed in combination with traditional upgrades or can be used to minimize the impact of grid outages that are usually needed to support construction of transmission upgrades. The bottom line is that GETs can provide cost-effective solutions to a good number of grid constraints and be implemented expeditiously, all while maintaining reliability of the grid.Both GETs and new transmission build are required to ensure a reliable and efficient grid especially against the backdrop of many regions being impacted by severe grid limitations, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and the fact that new transmission build remains a long lead development. Under such challenges, in addition to new transmission build, maximizing the grid's existing capacity in a reliable fashion is a necessity requiring innovation, consideration and adoption of GETs. This was well recognized by FERC which noted in its Electric Transmission Incentives Policy docket that GETs can "Enhance reliability, efficiency, capacity, and improve the operation of new or existing transmission technologies". GETs can provide cost-effective solutions to a good number of grid constraints and be implemented expeditiously, all while maintaining reliability of the grid
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