Coalition releases new electric transmission reform framework
Right-of-Center Groups Release Consumer-First Framework for Electric Transmission Reform
Coalition calls for market-driven approach to grid modernization as power demand surges
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of right-of-center organizations released a joint letter today outlining five principles to guide electric transmission policy toward greater affordability, reliability, and market accountability. The letter is the product of a coalition that began with a center-right convening on transmission policy hosted by the Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions and the R Street Institute in October of 2024, which brought scholars and policy experts from across the right-of-center policy community together to develop a consensus framework for reform.
The letter argues that the current regulatory framework is structurally inefficient and fails to protect ratepayers. This causes unnecessary costs while delaying cost-effective infrastructure deployment. It also explains why meaningful reform is urgently needed to meet rising electricity demand driven by data centers, manufacturing, and other energy-intensive industries. Ultimately, transmission policy must be refocused on consumers rather than on the interests of incumbent transmission developers or any particular generation source.
Devin Hartman, director of the R Street Institute’s energy and environment program, called the current situation unsustainable. “The status quo is risky, expensive, and undermines growth. This group of leaders recognizes that transmission policy must reflect sound governance and economic practices to advance energy prosperity. We hope these principles guide policy developments before Congress, federal agencies, and states for years to come.”
Signatories to the letter include the R Street Institute, the Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions (C3 Solutions), Americans for Prosperity, the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Abundance Institute, and the American Conservation Coalition.
The framework’s five principles call for prioritizing low-cost upgrades and enhancements to existing infrastructure; removing regulatory barriers to the voluntary, merchant transmission model; reforming mandatory planning and cost allocation processes to follow sound economic practices like cost-benefit analysis, competitive bidding, and beneficiary-pays cost allocation; streamlining state and local permitting and siting while protecting private property rights and reserving federal backstop authority as a last resort; and improving transmission governance through greater transparency, independent oversight, and clearer delineation of federal and state authority.
The letter emphasizes that transmission investment must be justified by demonstrable economic and reliability benefits and that competition and market discipline are essential to keeping costs in check.
Nick Loris, president of C3 Solutions, framed the choice ahead in stark terms. “With rising electricity demand, America’s energy economy needs more transmission. That can be done expensively and opaquely. Or it can be done cost-effectively and transparently. These principles lay the foundation to ensure that transmission needs protect ratepayers, enable competition, and provide grid reliability at lowest possible cost.”
The full letter is available here and the convening summary is available here. If you would like to connect with the signatories, please contact pr@rstreet.org.