Prepared by Judy W. Chang, Johannes P. Pfeifenberger, and J. Michael Hagerty of The Brattle Group
From the Introduction and Background
The purpose of this study is three-fold. First, WIRES, also known as the Working Group for Investment in Reliable and Economic Electric Systems, has asked The Brattle Group to document the broad range of potential transmission-related benefits and how they can be identified and estimated for specific transmission investments. Second, we document and discuss the experiences of regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and non-RTO regions in analyzing the economic, reliability, public policy, and other benefits that new or upgraded transmission can provide. Third, based on the collective experience documented, we catalogue the range of potential benefits offered by transmission investments and summarize the experience with the estimation of these benefits. Put together, the transmission-related potential benefits, metrics, and estimation practices documented in this report can be applied to evaluate any individual or group of transmission investments.
