The Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) is a collaborative made up of the major transmission planning coordinators responsible for the planning of the bulk power grid throughout the Eastern Interconnection, which represents about two-thirds of the United States and Canada.
A significant portion of the Eastern Interconnection regional planning regions established by FERC Order 1000 are also involved in EIPC. They include:
- Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC)
- ISO New England (ISO-NE)
- Midcontinent ISO (MISO)
- New York ISO (NYISO)
- PJM Interconnection (PJM)
- South Carolina Regional Transmission Planning (SCRTP)
- Southeast Regional Transmission Planning (SERTP)
- Southwest Power Pool (SPP)
EIPC does not replace these regional planning efforts; rather, it seeks to complement them on a broader interconnection-wide basis.
The EIPC has engaged in a number of significant collaborative activities since its inception in 2009. Specifically, the EIPC has:
- Produced a “State of the Eastern Interconnection” report, intended to serve as an information tool for policymakers and regulators. It addresses the present and future state of transmission planning for bulk power grid reliability and interregional coordination of those efforts.
- Produced “Roll-up Reports” that combine the individual plans of each of the major Planning Coordinators in the Eastern Interconnection to:
- Verify that the individual plans work together to maintain bulk power system reliability throughout the Interconnection; and
- Identify potential constraints resulting from interconnection-wide power flow interactions that provide feedback to inform and enhance regional plans.
- Utilized its Roll-up power flow models to analyze various future scenarios of interest to states and other stakeholders.
- Worked in collaboration with the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Collaborative (EISPC) under a DOE grant, to study the feasibility and costs of a potential build out of the Eastern Interconnection transmission system under a wide variety of future scenarios and resource mixes as identified by stakeholders as well as an extensive investigation of the Gas-Electric System Interface.
- Provided information, data, and support regarding planning issues relevant to the Eastern Interconnection to various state and federal agencies (e.g. EISPC, DOE, and FERC).
EIPC remains currently engaged in a number of interconnection-wide coordination efforts. Technical information and documentation regarding EIPC’s past and ongoing efforts, along with a full list of members, can be found on the EIPC website.
