Sterm(FERC，你从未听说过的最重要的气候机构)

THE CLEAN-ENERGY transition is doing wonders for energy nerds. Not because of any particular policy triumph, but be­cause people beyond wonkdom are actual­ly trying to understand what they are say­ing. Several times in the past two years"en­ergy permitting", such as the approval of electricity-transmission lines, became one of the hottest legislative topics in America. Attempts at planning reform failed. But the nerds' moment in the sun is not over. Those newly captivated by provisional en­vironmental-impact statements and land­ use planning will soon turn their attention to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis­sion (FERC), an obscure, independent agency that regulates the interstate trans­mission of energy.

清洁能源转型对能源迷们来说是一大利好。不是因为任何特定的政策胜利，而是因为超越了专业圈的人们实际上开始努力理解他们所说的话。在过去两年中，"能源许可"这样的议题，比如电力输电线路的批准，成为美国最热门的立法议题之一。规划改革的尝试失败了。但是，这些对暂行环境影响声明和土地利用规划新发烧的人们很快将把注意力转向联邦能源管理委员会（FERC），这是一个鲜为人知的独立机构，负责监管能源的州际输送。

In 2022 Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a climate law full of tax incentives for clean-energy infrastruc­ture. President Joe Biden and Democrats won the support of Joe Manchin, a centrist senator for West Virginia, by promising that they would also seek to ease the cum­bersome process of obtaining permits. It can take years for solar and wind farms to be approved, and even longer for interstate transmission lines. Speeding up planning is crucial. A study from Princeton Universi­ty in 2023 found that America needs to ex­pand electricity-transmission capacity 50% faster than its recent historical rate to reap the maximum decarbonisation bene­fits of the IRA.

2022年，国会通过了《通胀削减法案》（IRA），这是一部充满了对清洁能源基础设施税收激励的气候法。乔·拜登总统和民主党人通过承诺他们还将寻求简化取得许可的繁琐流程，赢得了西弗吉尼亚州的中间派参议员乔·曼钦的支持。太阳能和风能发电场的批准可能需要数年，甚至更长时间才能获得，而州际输电线路则需要更长时间。加快规划过程至关重要。普林斯顿大学2023年的一项研究发现，美国需要将电力输送能力扩大50%，才能以最大程度实现《IRA》的减碳效益。

One way to launch a building boom would be for Congress to grant FERC the power to permit interstate transmission lines as it does for natural-gas pipelines, which sail much quicker through planning processes. But progress there has stalled. Other good ideas are floating around. One bill, from John Hickenlooper, a Democrat­ic senator for Colorado, would mandate that regions be able to transfer a certain amount of electricity between them. That could make it easier to move power around during extreme weather, reduce costs for consumers where energy is now scarce and help states meet their clean-energy-gener­ation targets.

启动建设热潮的一种方法是让国会授予FERC批准州际输电线路的权力，就像它对天然气管道所做的那样，后者能够在规划过程中快速通过。但是，进展陷入了停滞。还有其他好主意正在酝酿。科罗拉多州民主党参议员约翰·希肯卢珀提出的一项法案将要求各个地区能够在它们之间转移一定数量的电力。这可能会在极端天气期间更容易地移动电力，降低了能源稀缺地区的消费成本，并帮助各州实现其清洁能源发电目标。

Yet progressive Democrats are wary of rushing projects through. And though Re­publicans have long favoured making per­mits easier to get, they would like to make it easier to build fossil-fuel infrastructure, too. The result is a stalemate. The lack of congressional action leaves agencies try­ing to speed things up themselves. Enter FERC. The next few months could determine how effective the commission will prove to be for the foreseeable future, for two reasons.

然而，进步派民主党人对匆忙通过项目持谨慎态度。尽管共和党人长期以来一直支持简化取得许可，但他们也希望更容易建造化石燃料基础设施。结果是僵局。国会行动的缺乏使得机构们试图加速进程。FERC登场了。接下来几个月将决定该委员会在可预见的未来能否发挥有效作用，原因有两个。

First, a final rule is set to be released on May 13th that could require transmission developers to plan 20 years into the future and that works out who should pay for new interstate lines. The transmission-opposi­tion-complex is waiting. Environmental­ists and NIMBYs are suspicious of how such projects mar the landscape, and often sue to delay them. Many utilities are local monopolies, and building interstate trans­mission could introduce competition from power generators beyond their regions. "It's all about the control they have over where our power comes from, and trans­mission can disrupt that control," says Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Ini­tiative at Harvard University. Politics also threatens to get in the way. After FERC initially released its rule in 2022, 17 Republican attorneys-general ar­gued that the commission wants to inflict renewable energy on states that resist it via new transmission lines, and that it does not have authority from Congress to do so. The Supreme Court may be amenable to this argument. In West Virginia v Environ­mental Protection Agency, in 2022, the court used the "major questions doctrine" to strike down an EPA rule re gulating green­ house-gas emissions on similar grounds. It will also take time for transmission opera­ tors to comply with the new rule. Mr Pes­koe reckons that compliance and legal challenges could delay the rule's imple­mentation by several years.

首先，5月13日将发布最终规则，该规则可能要求输电开发商规划未来20年，并确定谁应该为新的州际输电线路付费。输电反对复合体正在观望。环保主义者和邻里不受欢迎的人对这类项目的影响持怀疑态度，并经常诉诸法院以推迟它们。许多公用事业公司是地方垄断企业，建造州际输电线路可能会引入来自他们所在地区以外的发电厂的竞争。哈佛大学电力法倡议主任阿里·佩斯科说："这完全是关于他们控制我们的电力来自何处，输电可以破坏他们对这种控制的情况。"政治也有可能阻碍进展。在FERC最初发布其规则后，17位共和党州检察长认为，委员会希望通过新的输电线路强加可再生能源于那些抵制的州，并且认为委员会没有从国会那里获得这样做的授权。最高法院可能会支持这一论点。在2022年的西弗吉尼亚州诉环境保护局案中，法院利用了"重大问题原则"以类似的理由废除了EPA关于温室气体排放的规则。输电运营商遵守新规则将需要时间。佩斯科先生估计，合规性和法律挑战可能会使规则的实施推迟数年。

The second factor that will affect FERC's power to change the energy land­scape is the commission's size: it is shrink­ing. It is supposed to be made up of five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. But Mr Manchin blocked the renomination of the commis­sion's chairman in 2022, another member's term expired last year and a third commis­sioner is scheduled to leave in June. If FERC goes down to two commissioners then it loses a quorum, notes Caitlin Marquis of Advanced Energy United, a clean-energy lobby group. In that case, "they can't func­tion as a decision-making body," she adds. In February Mr Biden announced three nominees who would bring the commis­sion back to full strength-provided that they are indeed confirmed. Their nomina­tions appear uncontroversial so far, but America's toxic politics have made even energy nerds superstitious. The common refrain from the cognoscenti when con­templating the nominees' prospects is: "I don't want to jinx it."

影响FERC改变能源格局的第二个因素是该委员会的规模正在缩小。它应该由总统提名并由参议院确认的五名成员组成。但曼钦阻止了委员会主席的再次提名，这是2022年的事情，另一名成员的任期在去年到期，第三名委员将于六月离职。如果FERC人数减少到两名委员，那么它就失去了法定人数，Advanced Energy United的清洁能源游说团体的凯特琳·马奎斯指出。在那种情况下，"他们无法作为一个决策机构运作"。拜登总统在二月份宣布了三名提名人选，他们将使委员会恢复到完整人数——前提是他们确实被确认。到目前为止，他们的提名似乎没有引起争议，但美国的毒性政治使得即使是能源迷们也变得迷信。当思考提名人选的前景时，内行人的常见说法是："我不想招惹是非。"