The Southeast Regional Transmission Planning (SERTP) group hosted its first quarterly meeting of 2025 earlier this month, and while much of the meeting focused on technical updates, stakeholder coordination, and procedural housekeeping, the undercurrent of frustration from clean energy stakeholders made for a more dynamic session than usual.

Key Takeaways

1. Cost Estimate Information (Finally) Shared—With Strings Attached

In a long-awaited move, SERTP sponsors within the Southern Balancing Authority (SBA)—including Southern Company, Georgia Transmission, and others—have now made planning-grade cost estimate data available to stakeholders. However, accessing it requires signing a confidentiality agreement and submitting a request form.

This is a win for transparency advocates, though some, like the Clean Energy Buyers Association, raised concerns about potential limitations on how this data can be used, especially for modeling outside the SERTP process. The SERTP team clarified that while a background check is not needed (unlike with CEII data), the data must be used solely within SERTP-related engagements.

2. Where’s Order 1920? Stakeholders Are Still Waiting

Despite stakeholder eagerness to discuss FERC’s landmark Order 1920, SERTP made it clear: there would be no 1920 talk this time. Sponsors are still preparing their compliance plan, now due June 6, 2026, following a recent extension approval. Stakeholders—especially those coordinating with other regional planning efforts like Duke’s MVST in the Carolinas—pushed for timelines and collaboration, but responses were vague, with promises of future engagement.

3. Public Policy Study Rejected—Again

A major point of contention was SERTP's continued rejection of a public policy study request tied to North Carolina House Bill 951, which mandates significant carbon reductions by 2030. SERTP ruled that the bill does not drive a regional transmission need, citing that Duke’s Carbon Plan IRP doesn’t include out-of-system resources.

This sparked significant pushback. Clean energy and environmental advocates argued that this circular logic prevents any meaningful regional planning: when SERTP says it’s Duke’s responsibility, and Duke says it’s a SERTP issue, who actually studies regional solutions?

As Simon Mahan of the Southern Renewable Energy Association put it, after over 10 years of Order 1000 compliance, “SERTP has never once conducted a public policy study.” That, he argued, needs to change.

4. Red Zone Expansion and Reliability vs. Regional Needs

Duke’s “Red Zone Expansion Plan” continues to be treated as a local transmission solution, even though stakeholders raised concerns about potential cross-border impacts, especially on neighboring systems like TVA and Southern. Duke officials acknowledged they coordinate via generator interconnection studies, but again drew a firm line between local upgrades and regional planning obligations.

Stakeholders expressed concern that the process lacks a meaningful avenue for identifying proactive, cost-effective regional solutions that could avoid piecemeal local upgrades.

5. Economic Studies & Alternative Projects: Still an Uphill Climb

SERTP staff explained how potential regional transmission alternatives are evaluated, noting that stakeholders can propose options, but the bar remains high. Much of last year’s “regional” review stemmed from internal evaluations of economic studies, not from stakeholder proposals—underscoring how difficult it is for outsiders to influence the process without access to the models and data needed to propose viable alternatives.

6. The RPSG: A Key Role in Shaping Economic Studies

The meeting closed by reviewing the structure and function of the Regional Planning Stakeholder Group (RPSG), which plays a key role in selecting economic planning studies. Stakeholders were encouraged to get involved, as these studies represent one of the few windows to proactively analyze transmission needs beyond what the utilities already have planned. Final approved transmission assessments include evaluation of moving 1,500 MW of power from Florida to North Georgia to replicate data center load growth, 800 MW of power from SPP to TVA to replicate announced plans, and 1,000 and 2,000 MW power flows from MISO South to the Duke territories, to evaluate potential lower cost renewables to serve Duke’s CPIRP process.

Final Thoughts

Despite improvements in data access and modeling transparency, the meeting underscored ongoing tension between the utilities' internal planning processes and the broader public interest in regional decarbonization. With Order 1920 implementation looming and cost pressures mounting, stakeholders will need to stay active—and vocal—to ensure the planning process lives up to its potential.

Next Step? Watch for more stakeholder engagement sessions in Q2 as SERTP prepares its preliminary expansion plan and (hopefully) begins engaging on Order 1920.