Research Tasks & Planned Work
Research Tasks
The initial work of ExTx Consortium is organized into the following 11 focal areas, each of which has a team of leading investigators.
| Area Number | Focal Issue | Leading Investigators |
| 1 | Systematic identification, review, and summary of conditions under which past capacity expansion efforts have succeeded or failed. This includes “clearance point” analysis of selected transmission projects and a focus on projects that involve multiple jurisdictions. | Yozwiak, Morgan, Apt, Victor, and Blumsack |
| 2 | Technical, economic, and regulatory analysis of, and impediments to, the use of non-traditional rights-of-way (e.g., railway and highway corridors), as well as DC cables under lakes and rivers, to site new transmission. | Melanie Huq (CMU EPP PhD student), Morgan, Yozwiak, Sioshansi, and Victor |
| 3 | Technical, economic, and regulatory analysis of, and impediments to, expanding the capacity of existing transmission corridors by reconductoring with conductors that have low coefficients of thermal expansion. | Callaway and student team |
| 4 | Assessment of conditions under which more expensive solutions (e.g., an HVDC cable, which has a high probability of successful deployment) would be preferable to conventional transmission projects. Analysis of how to promote such solutions successfully to regulators and policymakers. | David Rodriguez (CMU EPP PhD student), Sioshansi, Morgan, and Blumsack and student team |
| 5 | Exploration and development of alternative efficient and equitable strategies for financing and engaging in cost recovery and cost allocation for new transmission projects. | Victor, Blumsack, and Morgan |
| 6 | Studies of public understanding and development of materials to improve that understanding of the need for transmission and its expansion. | Bruine de Bruin and Morgan |
| 7 | Assessment and development of strategies to assure that cost recovery for transmission expansion for narrowly focused commercial activities (e.g., data centers) does not burden other ratepayers. | Nock, Yozwiak, Jaramillo, and Victor |
| 8 | Analysis of strategies to alleviate supply-chain (e.g., cables and large high-voltage transformers and circuit breakers) and skilled-labor constraints on the expansion of transmission capacity. | Fuchs and Karplus |
| 9 | Reviewing and assuring that all Consortium work is technically consistent with the needs of electricity-system operations. | Pileggi, Kar, Callaway, and Dagle |
| 10 | Examination of issues that are related to international electricity-system coordination and the power flows between U.S. and Canada. | Abdulla |
| 11 | Integration of Consortium activities. Development and aggressive promotion of legal, regulatory, and other changes and strategies to accelerate the expansion of transmission capacity. | Full ExTx Consortium team with Morgan and Victor coordinating |
Planned Work
Solid technical and economic underpinning will be essential to address these issues. However, we see the following three as being key challenges:
- Assessing legal, regulatory, institutional, and political obstacles to expanding transmission capacity along with those arising from interest groups.
- Examining the sources of public resistance to new transmission and improving public understanding of the need for expanded transmission capacity.
- Proposing and promoting actively needed fundamental structural, legal, regulatory, public communication, policy, and other changes.
The following table summarizes the initial scope of work that the ExTx Consortium will undertake. The goal is to develop fact-based foundations for the solutions that the Consortium develops and promotes.
| Lay Key Foundations and Background | Expand Capacity Using Traditional Rights-of-Way | Develop Non-Traditional Rights-of-Way | Improve Understanding of Public Knowledge and Perceptions |
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