Indiana § 8-1-38-9 - Construction, ownership, operation, maintenance, and upgrade of electric transmission facilities; right of first refusal

§ 8-1-38-9. Construction, ownership, operation, maintenance, and upgrade of electric transmission facilities; right of first refusal

Sec. 9. (a) An incumbent electric transmission owner has the right to construct, own, operate, and maintain the following:

(1) An electric transmission facility that has been approved for construction through a regional transmission organization planning process and that connects to an electric transmission facility owned by the incumbent electric transmission owner.

(2) Upgrades to an existing electric transmission facility owned by the incumbent electric transmission owner if the upgrades have been approved for construction through a regional transmission organization planning process.

(b) The right to construct, own, operate, and maintain an electric transmission facility that connects to electric transmission facilities owned by two (2) or more incumbent electric transmission owners belongs individually and proportionately to each incumbent electric transmission owner, unless the incumbent electric transmission owners otherwise agree in writing.

(c) If an electric transmission facility has been approved for construction through a regional transmission organization planning process, as described in subsection (a)(1), each incumbent electric transmission owner that has a right under subsection (b) to construct, own, operate, and maintain the electric transmission facility to be constructed shall give written notice to the commission, not later than ninety (90) days after the date of approval of the construction, regarding the incumbent electric transmission owner's intent to construct, own, operate, and maintain the approved electric transmission facility. If an incumbent electric transmission owner gives notice of the incumbent electric transmission owner's intent not to construct the approved electric transmission facility, another entity may seek to construct the approved electric transmission facility in accordance with the regional transmission organization planning process and this chapter.

(d) If an incumbent electric transmission owner gives to the commission during a calendar year a notice of intent under subsection (c) to construct, own, operate, and maintain an electric transmission facility approved for construction through a regional transmission organization planning process, the incumbent electric transmission owner shall, not later than May 1 of the subsequent calendar year, provide the commission with the following information, in the form and manner prescribed by the commission:

(1) A list of the electric transmission facilities with respect to which the incumbent electric transmission owner provided the commission a notice of intent under subsection (c) in the preceding calendar year. The list provided under this subdivision must include:

(A) a brief description of the construction;

(B) the reason for the construction; and

(C) an estimate of the total cost of the construction.

(2) A written or electronic copy of the Annual Formula Rate Update Informational Filing most recently filed by the incumbent electric transmission owner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

(e) An incumbent electric transmission owner that exercises its right under subsection (a)(1) to construct an electric transmission facility approved for construction through a regional transmission organization planning process must, to the extent commercially practicable, use competitively bid engineering, procurement, or construction contracts, as applicable, that meet all the technical, commercial, and other specifications, such as safety performance, required by the incumbent electric transmission owner with respect to the electric transmission facility.

As added by P.L.174-2013, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.145-2023, SEC.3.