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The recent history of developing long-haul pipelines in the U.S. demonstrates what can happen when certain bottlenecks go unaddressed, according to Justin Gundlach, a senior attorney with New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity. "You would absolutely see people who don't like transmission lines use NEPA to say that the agency responsible for siting this transmission line has failed to take the requisite hard look at the impacts, etc., etc. — no question," he said. Gundlach co-authored a recent study that outlined steps FERC could take to facilitate more long-distance, high-voltage direct-current electric transmission lines without waiting on additional legislation.

A recent report from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity looked at how the Energy Department and other regulators might use certain tools to help expand the nation’s transmission grid, a move that is central to reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector. The lead author, Avi Zevin, was recently hired by the Department of Energy as deputy general counsel for energy policy.

Utilities that address climate risks will see benefits in their bottom lines, said Justin Gundlach, a senior attorney at the New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity. "The fundamental point here is that it would be cheaper if they just looked at this hard and made prudent investments," he said.

The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs has issued a paper, in partnership with the New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity, detailing how the federal government can enable the construction of the transmission infrastructure necessary to decarbonize the country’s power generation.

Transmission is an area where DOE watchers say they are hoping Granholm takes the lead. "In the absence of legislation, critical long-distance transmission can be developed by applying existing federal legal authorities," researchers said in a report this month out of NYU Law School's Institute for Policy Integrity and Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. It pointed at a 2005 act establishing DOE's authority to advance "national interest" transmission projects as the critical lever.

"To be clear, I don't read this as signaling that, given the chance, Clements would somehow make FERC into ‘an environmental regulator,'" said Justin Gundlach, senior attorney at the New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity. "I think her comment reflects a widely held view: climate change bears heavily on the energy sector in numerous ways, so if FERC is doing its job properly it can't ignore climate change."

New York state is home to a nation-leading climate change law. But it is also home to long-standing legal frameworks that enable — and in some cases, encourage — the consumption of fossil fuels. Leaving these legacy frameworks in place could undermine New York's ability to implement its new climate law, and accomplish a safe and just managed transition away from fossil fuels. Other states should take note.

In a move that could blaze a trail to meaningful climate action nationwide, New York’s Public Service Commission, which is responsible for regulating that state’s utilities, is calling on them to disclose the financial risks they face due to climate change. Requiring utilities to develop and present this information would be a potent way to push a critically important sector of the economy to reveal and respond to the consequences of climate change — and to save consumers money along the way.

Policy analysts are urging President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration to use existing authority to expand the nation's electric grid and to consider boosting the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A study out of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity focused on the need for more long-distance transmission capacity to ship carbon-free solar and wind power across the country.

Congress enacted a law in 2005 that granted the Department of Energy the authority to designate “national interest electric transmission corridors” where new lines are needed, and it gave FERC authority to override state inaction on lines in these corridors. But this law has been ineffective, largely failing to speed up expansion of transmission lines. As shown in a report about to be issued by Columbia’s Center for Global Energy Policy and New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity, the law can and should be revived.