Why is the National Electricity Delivery Forum Unique?

The 2006 National Forum is the first in a series of National Electricity Delivery Forums to be convened on a regular basis (every 12-18 months). The Forum is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and the Consumer Energy Council of America.

Over the past two years, energy policy makers and regulators in many areas have realized that much of their electricity infrastructure is aging, that their infrastructure has become significantly dependent on natural gas-fired generation, and that natural gas prices are high and likely to remain so for the next several years -- or longer. This awareness has triggered intense interest in relying more on other generation technologies to meet growing electricity needs. Most of these technologies, however, involve the development of new generation distant from load centers, have larger associated transmission requirements, and typically involve 5- to 10-year lead-times. As a result, multi-state, regional-scale generation and transmission planning has emerged as an important energy policy priority. The National Electricity Delivery Forum is based on two premises: 1) that responding adequately to these challenges will be a multi-year endeavor, and 2) that success will require focused cooperation among a wide range of federal, state, industry, and other officials.