Gas-Electric System Interface Study Consultant Chosen

RENSSELAER, NY (10/23/2013)(readMedia)-- The Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) today announced that it has chosen Levitan & Associates, Inc. to lead the technical analyses for its Gas-Electric System Interface Study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Levitan & Associates (Boston, Mass.) was selected after the EIPC received an initial notice of interest from 17 consulting organizations, with six of those organizations submitting complete proposals. The EIPC's Particpating Planning Authorities involved in the Gas-Electric System Interface Study completed an extensive review process looking at all aspects of each proposal and concluded that Levitan & Associates would bring the best technical and managerial resources to perform the analyses.

"This marks another significant milestone in the project and the beginning of technical analyses that will stretch over the next 18 months,"said Stephen G. Whitley, president and CEO of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and chair of the EIPC Executive Committee.

Richard Levitan, president of Levitan & Associates said, "Naturally, we are pleased to have been chosen for this important study of how the natural gas delivery system and electric transmission system will function over the five to 10 year planning horizon. We're honored to have the privilege of this engagement."

EIPC's Participating Planning Authorities leading the study are: ISO New England; NYISO; PJM Interconnection; Independent Electric System Operator (IESO); Midcontinent ISO, including the Entergy system; and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The combined geographic areas of these Participating Planning Authorities will form the study region for the analyses. The scope of work to be completed can be found on the EIPC website at: http://www.eipconline.com/RFP_for_Study.html.

Supported by DOE funding, the EIPC's initial task was the development of a transparent stakeholder process that included representatives from the states and regulatory jurisdictions in the Eastern Interconnection and from various industry sectors.The stakeholder process has recently been expanded to include the gas sector and is now led by a 33-member Stakeholder Steering Committee (SSC). The SSC will provide advice and key inputs to the interconnection-wide analyses.The SSC has been active for almost three years and will meet for the first time on the topic of the Gas-Electric System Interface Study on October 29 and 30, 2013, to begin engaging with the details of the study scope, data assumptions, method of analysis and development and prioritization of potential sensitivites to be used by Levitan & Associates.

The Gas-Electric System Interface Study is scheduled to continue through the spring of 2015.

About the EIPC

Formed under an agreement by over two dozen electric system planning authorities from thirty-nine states in the Eastern United States and one province in Eastern Canada, the EIPC is focused on a "bottom-up" approach to its interconnection studies starting with a roll-up of the existing grid expansion plans of electric system planning authorities in the Eastern Interconnection. The EIPC membership includes Alcoa Power Generating, Inc.; American Transmission Company LLC; Duke Energy Carolinas; Duke Energy Florida; Duke Energy Progress; Electric Energy Incorporated; Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company; Entergy Services, Inc. on behalf of the Entergy Corporation Utility Operating Companies; Florida Power & Light Company; Georgia Transmission Corporation (An Electric Membership Corporation); Independent Electricity System Operator ("IESO"); International Transmission Company; ISO New England, Inc.; JEA; Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, by and through its agent, MAPPCOR; Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.; Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia; New York Independent System Operator, Inc.; PJM Interconnection LLC; PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; South Carolina Electric & Gas Company; South Carolina Public Service Authority; Southern Company Services Inc., as agent for Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Gulf Power Company, and Mississippi Power Company; Southwest Power Pool, Inc.; and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

For more information, visit www.eipconline.com.