Regional Differences in RTO Governance and Decision-making (Elizabeth Wilson, Irving Center for Energy and Society, Dartmouth University)

“Transmission is blood sport.  Building transmission is really, really hard because negotiating who pays is really tricky. … You have very different interests that are coming together in the RTO space to solve very difficult problems.”

“A lot of our energy problems are self-created.  A lot of ERCOT problems are because ERCOT wants to be ERCOT and doesn’t want to connect with anyone else. You say ‘this is a huge problem.’ Well yeah, but you made the problem.”

“While we were dancing around the topic of creating the Western EIM, we didn’t even talk about western dams [which have to do] flood control, irrigation, water supply … How you integrate those multifaceted entities into an electricity market is another huge question.”

Dr. Elizabeth J. Wilson is a Professor of Environmental Studies and the inaugural Director of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society. She studies how energy systems are changing in the face of new technologies and new societal pressures. Recent research has examined how energy policy stakeholders view the opportunities and challenges of creating smart grids and decision making within Regional Transmission Organizations, which manage the transmission planning, electricity markets and grid operations of over 70 percent of North America.