At FERC’s March 2024 Open Meeting, the Commissioners announced a new cooperative effort between FERC and the states: the Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative (“Current Issues Collaborative”).
Since June 2021, FERC has convened a Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission (“Task Force”), with representatives from ten states advising the Commissioners on matters related to transmission planning, siting, cost allocation, and oversight. The Task Force is set to expire by design in late 2024, and the new Current Issues Collaborative seems to be the Commission’s chosen successor vehicle for addressing issues over which the states and FERC have overlapping or divided jurisdiction. The Current Issues Collaborative’s scope will be broader than the Task Force’s has been, however, with the Commissioners stating that the Collaborative will address issues as various as system reliability and resource adequacy, natural gas-electric systems coordination, wholesale and retail markets, new technologies and innovations, and infrastructure.
The Current Issues Collaborative will comprise all FERC Commissioners as well as representatives from ten state commissions, with two originating from each NARUC region (though any state can propose agenda items or submit comments on agenda items). The initial meeting of the Collaborative is expected to be held in the fall of 2024.
