Insurance & Commerce - Senate and House
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Bills discussed (1)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1813
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ank you for your time, committee. So the original intent of House Bill 1813, which was an act to adopt the Ferring Efficient Transmissi…”
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TO ADOPT THE FAIR AND EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION COMPACT. | Gramlich | Recommended for study in the Interim by the … |
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- October 2, 2026
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
2:07
Good morning. let's go ahead and call this meeting
to order Glad to see so many people able to make it here today we have a fairly busy agenda but the first thing we need to do is we need to recognize we need to handle some motions. The first matter is a motion to approve special expenses represent Boyd makes Senator Boyd makes the motion and do we have a second by our of Stamo all in favor sayy aye
any opposed motion carries. thank you Senator Boyd. agendaatdam C is the minutes if anyone had a chance to review the minutes Senator Boyd would make a motion and a second by Senator Irvin all in favor say aye. any opposed say no motion carries
Committee members the first thing we the next thing we have to do is we have numerous ISPs my thought is that we will batch those and have
a motion to adopt the Ips as batched erboid Mr chairir, I'd like to make a motion
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
3:32
that we adopt all the ISPs2 through 9 but we do not adopt number one and we take up that one separately please
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
3:46
senator Boyd has made a motion to have a second Reverend
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
4:01
ladyman all in favor say aye Mr. Chair, may make a motion that we now adopt 10 through fi5 ISPs10 through 15 yes Senator Boyd
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
4:07
has made a motion to go ahead and get the rest of them 10 through 15. do we have a second?resident ladyman seconds it
Speaker 24
4:17
reps some graham like you reck nest. Rep some gramm
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
4:38
like it was my thought that we would go ahead and adopt your motion adopt your ISP but you are on the agenda to present thank you
ok so I think we are going to vote on the motion all in favor say aye ayeen post say no motion carries my Mr Chair may I
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
5:00
make a motion on number one yes senator Boyd make a motion I'm just gonna be
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
5:05
honest, I don't know the motion to make
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
5:08
but we want it to go away. We we want it to be withdrawn we want it to die we want it to
not be brought up for consideration or be hanging out there other than
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
5:21
it's just fi yes that's what I need all in favor say aye and any posts say no motion carries the ISp is killed Committee members are there any other Ips we need to address specifically before we turn to some gramlich OK, thank you. Repentgraham lucky you're recognized if you'd like to go to the table
Representative Gramlick as you're making your way to the table we have other people you're welcome to bring them to
the table with you if you want to that's completely up
Speaker 39
6:32
to you Id appreciate that Mr Cha. yeah there was a number of individuals from various various different organizations from the southwestern Power pool from becker
corp, theublic Service mission and from EPL advisors if they could all come forward please and I'm going to find an additional chair.
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
6:47
OK, thank you if you gentlemen would come forward and we'll find in one more chair and
then once you get there and get seated just introduce yourselves for the record.
Speaker 44
7:21
Statepresentative Zach Gramlich district50. Brent Bailey EPL advisors Danny Hofer,
Speaker 48
7:34
chief of staff at the PSE. Daniel Berkowitz Becker corporation Steve Purdy
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
7:40
Southwest Power pool thank you umpresentative Grammmo you're recognized to present
Speaker 39
7:44
your Ip. thank you for your time committee. so the original intent of House
Bill1813 which was an act to adopt the fairing efficient commission transmission compact and for other purposes the goal of this compact was really one thing and it was to increase you know the number of trans excuse me lower permitting times and allow for more transmission lines to be run across our state and across our region the reality is well I'll tell you my story first so I look at my hometown Fortsmith for we have transmission problems not with electricity but it's with wastewater. We spent entirely too long and kicked the can for
entirely too long and now we're you know we're having to spend millions and billions of dollars to fix the sense of our of our forefathers and I don't want to see the same thing happen to us with electricity. you know we are in an unprecedented time of growth and electricity in our nation with AI centers withda data centers and tons of other load that are coming online every single day and I don't want Arkansas to be left in the dust because we didn't do what we needed to do and so really this is just an opportunity to have a conversation about the
importance of transmission and what we need to do next to ensure Arkansas policies is good for transmission building in our state and I'll let any of these people add anything they'd like if we would like to go
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
9:11
in order Mr Purty is first if you'd like to go
ahead and introduce yourself again and present your testimony please Sure
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
9:18
good morning I'm Steve Purdy. I am the technical director for engineering policy for Southwest
Powerpool and I I'm gonna speak a little bit this morning on transmission planning and what goes into that and some of the complexities involved in that I did bring some slides so we can go ahead and go to slide number four just some little background on southwest Power pool SBp is what's known as a regional transmission organization that is a a nonprofit entity that is
registered by the federal Energy regulatory Commission or FERC to manage the access to the high voltage transmission system for utility members and SBp as you can see from that diagram our members that have their facilities under SBp's control are in the center part of the country that dark red area in the in the middle SBp is one of nine regional grid operators in North
America we have 130 members that participate and SBp offers a number of services we act as sort of an air traffic controller for the high voltage transmission system but we also are in in charge of balancing supply and demand across the region on a minute by minute basis we're responsible for maintaining reliable grid operations and ensuring that the lights stay on and we also operate a wholesale
energy market where we pair sellers and buyers of energy so that they can access the most economical resources and then what we're here to talk about today is we also coordinate planning for new transmission across the entire region. so if we go to the next slide SBp has as I mentioned 130 members and that's part of what helps us keep our independence is that we have members all across the spectrum of
utilities that use the high voltage transmission system everything from cooperatives to investor owned utilities municipals as well as large customers such as Walmart and others so the SP really ri strives to bring everyone that has a stake in the high voltage system and the energy system in general together to develop the policies and procedures that will be used to provide those services
that we just talked about. Sbp covers all or part of4 states we have over 1000 generating plants over5,000 substations and over70,000 miles of high voltage transmission within that area and it serves a population of around 18 million on the next slide, I just want to mention a little bit about SPP being as we are in Arkansas thought it would be of interest to this group if you're not familiar with Sbp it started as a cooperation between 11 member
utilities in 1941 in order to bring power to the central Arkansas area in order to smelt aluminum. there wasn't enough power that existed in Arkansas at the time so these companies got together to provide those resources to support the war effort and in the years following that over the last 80 years or so Sbp's role has changed and evolved to the regional transmission organization that you see today next slide
so I talked about a collaborative stakeholder process earlier SPp has an independent board of directors that direct the activities it is independent financially of any of the participants any of our members and our we have an extensive committee structure where those 130 members get together and discuss the policies and procedures that SPP uses to provide all of those services and they're the ones that really determine the direction that we use Also I want to point out that we have a regional state committee and
that is made up of a member of each of the representatives from the state regulatory bodies from those 14 states and they actually have primary authority over three areas those three areas are cost allocation how new transmission costs get allocated to customers how we approach regional resource adequacy making sure there's enough energy and power available to serve the needs of the region and allocating rights for those transmission lines so that
regional state committee actually has primary authority over that in addition to our independent board of directors right next slide so in 2021 SPp did a study on the value of transmission and I put the link there if you want to look at the details but it focuses on the transmission that particularly that was approved over a four year period from 215 to2019 looked at
the the the drivers behind that including reliability compliance economics and so on and determined that over a 40 year NPV look that uh3.5 billion or3.3 billion dollars worth of investment had a worth or a value to our customers and members of about $27 billion and over the 40 year term the the revenue requirement or what it costs to build and maintain those
assets was about5 billion dollars so that works out to about a5 to1 benefit to cost ratio so there's a lot more in the report I encourage you to go to the report there and look at the details to understand more about how we arrived at that value now let's talk about regional transmission planning on slide 10 so regional transmission planning is about finding a
balance between expenditures and access to lowest cost energy so we're always looking at those two things and trying to balance those a number of challenges that we have to face in that process include the fact that generators are often located quite some distance from the loads that they serve so that means that transmission lines have to be built in order to bring that power and that arris raises a number of concerns about citing it is a a relatively long
process sometimes very costly to construct those new assets deciding who will pay is a key consideration and environmental constraints are also a consideration given the number of federal and state regulations that transmission owners have to navigate when they're considering new transmission assets so there are three basic considerations that SBp looks at when it's going through the process of developing plans for new transmission the first is reliability again keeping the lights on making
sure that the SBp grid can provide service under all types of scenarios and situations is the first and number one consideration the second is economics allowing customers our our members and ratepayers to be able to access the cheapest generation that's available in the region is the second concern and then public policy of those four states they all have different policies regarding types of generation to be
developed types of transmission who pays and so on so SBp's planning process has to take into consideration those public policy goals of those various players next slide so SBP has a process for conducting that study we call it the integrated transmission plan and it we start by considering a number of factors again starting at the top the number one thing is reliability. there's a number of standards that we ensure that
the system is able to meet and if it's we see that it's not going to be able to meet those standards then we recommend upgrades in order to mitigate any problems public policy needs operational needs factor into that economic needs we talked about that generator impacts as new generators come onto the system the system has to be able to handle those new uses as well as new loads that want to come on big a big topic of conversation currently are new
data centers and that is certainly a a a big driver today but we also see an SPp increases in load I'm sorry oil and gas exploration that is driving the need for new transmission. so all of those things come together we determine what are the needs we also look at various scenarios what if generation doesn't pan out the way we think it's going to what if there are fewer renewables
and more gas plants what if the price of gas goes up over the next 10 years all of those things are factored into those needs and we develop a portfolio that is able to meet all of those needs and be flexible to react to whatever situations come up so that that results in an integrated transmission plan portfolio that is intended to meet the needs over a 10 year planning horizon and we go through this exercise every year on the next slide, I'm going to talk a little bit about the
transmission build cycle so Sbp has a role and it's transmission owners the utility companies also have a role SBp's role is that planning study process that we just talked about it can take from 12 to18 months and then we go through a process once we have determined what upgrades are needed we go through a process to assign those to companies to construct those upgrades and that's our transmission owner selection process and that can take anywhere from3 to1el months
if it is if it is a project that is beyond a certain time horizon three years out or more it is a competitive project meaning that SPp goes through a process to award that to whoever can construct that at the at the least cost and with the highest quality so that can that can take longer and it can take as long as 1el months so that that process can take 3 to1el months in total then
that hands it off to the transmission owner and the transmission owner is generally the utility company or it could be an independent transmission developer they're responsible for things like siding determining where a transmission line will actually be sighted the design of that line, the right of way acquisition financing and construction SBp doesn't engage in those activities we just determine where those transmission assets are needed then we hand those off to the transmission owners who are
responsible for sighting and construction and that entire process can be quite lengthy it can be from3 to9 years. the very large types of transmission lines and projects can take quite a long time to go through that entire process as well as the construction process can be lengthy depending on a number of factors including environmental concerns or processes certifications that have to be done. all right next slide we talked about the transmission
owner selection process this is for competitive projects those that meet the the threshold for eligibility we compile a or put together a an independent panel of experts we invite companies to submit proposals to meet the needs that SPp has identified they submit their proposals SPp's independent panel evaluates those and provides a recommendation to our board which then selects an entity to construct those
this is a process that was mandated by the FERC under order 1000 and SPp has its own process that meets those requirements under FERC and is intended again to provide competition to ensure that the these large assets can be constructed at the lowest and most economical cost. so finally takeaways I wanna leave you with today transmission planning is complex it involves many different
stakeholders that all have different and sometimes competing interests and SBp's role is to balance those interests and try to meet everyone's need in the in the final portfolio reliability is our number one priority keeping the lights on is the main thing but also and secondarily is reducing energy costs by enabling access to the cheapest resources and part of what we do is examine our portfolio and ensure that those can be affordable for
our members and their ratepayers and ensuring that they are delivering the cheapest energy possible we also look at economic development that factors in to the selection process a lot of these the larger loads have economic impacts to their communities and that factors in and then finally we leverage new technology bothth we look at the the generation side what new technologies are coming along that would change the way we
might develop our plans as well as new technology for the transmission system itself. so again SBp's role is to facilitate the coordination of all of those various goals and interests we do that with an independent board of directors a rigorous study process involvement of all of the various stakeholders that have an interest including our state regulators and a competitive process for those large projects and so with that I
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
23:51
thank you for your testimony Mr Party. We do have some questions Representativeladyman you are recognized for a question.
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
24:01
thank you Mr Chairman over here. got a couple of questions but if I get to4 I'll put me back in the queue but how much of Arkansas does Southwest Power pool provide I mean the map showed you know northwest what percent do you say you provide? I don't know
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
24:22
the percentage but it our members in Arkansas are swept go Oklahoma Gas and Electric Empire District Electric, Arkansas Electric cooperative I believe that's all of the the members there are a number of customers in Arkansas such as the city of Clarksville the city of Bentonville that takes service from SPP.
Speaker 55
24:41
through one of those members so myo is the other provider
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
24:46
of most of Arkansas so how would this proposal or this
Ip in your opinion how would that affect what myo does? I mean does that affect them or does it just
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
25:01
affect you? so myso is also a regional transmission organization like SBp and it does provide the same types of services that SPp does their members include entergy which is the largest provider in Arkansas as well as a number of other smaller entities I don't I don't know that we have a position or an opinion on the the proposal itself
just wanted to provide information to help you make an informed decision and a
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
25:30
note myo was invited to be here today. they
Speaker 39
25:33
couldn't get they couldn't have someone here today but they are willing to come to a future meeting to answer any questions like that
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
25:40
about this kind of stuff thank you so the southwestower pool own any of the lines or are these all owned
Speaker 71
25:46
by other entities Southwest Powerpool does not own any lines or generating stations they're
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
25:51
all owned by those utility companies like Swepco, Og andE they're those are the actual
owners and operators of those facilities are there
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
26:00
any private companies that own these lines like Kinder Morgan is a gas supplying company that own lines are there any companies like that that really aren't the producers or the
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
26:14
retail like entergy so Sbp does have some independent transmission companies that own transmission it's not limited to utility companies it can be anyone that meets
our membership requirements and pays the membership fee and puts those assets under SPp's control but generally those are large utility companies with only a couple of independent entities so is SP p are
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
26:39
are you a private entity are you a government entity how's your board choose chosen how's that work? SPp is a
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
26:49
a private company it's a nonprofit entity it's a membershipbased so it's a voluntary organization and it's not a federal or state
creation our members voluntarily come to SPp and join and put their assets under SPp's functional control or SPp's job is to determine who has access to the high voltage transmission system that's what functional control means but it is voluntary our our board is selected by the membership but they have to in order to satisfy the federal requirements they have to be independent of any of our
members or customers so they can have no financial interest in any of the utility companies or or
Speaker 76
27:35
independent entities or anything like that that do business in SPp. one more question
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
27:40
in your opinion how does this compact this proposed in this ISp in your opinion I mean how does that help what does that do to help us in Arkansas keep the lights on how
does that help us Yeah again I don't know that SBp has a position on that
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
28:02
as I read it it looked like it was another layer to developing transmission and planning transmission SBp has as we talked about a number of processes that we use to to develop transmission within our area and we also coordinate with other areas so we coordinate with mySO for example in in develop ing projects so to me it looked like another avenue for for doing that thank you thank you Mr chair
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
28:34
thank youpresentativeewbanks you're recognized for a question thank you Mr
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
28:39
chairir. I think you just answered my question. I was myo and SPp control cover all of Arkansas. is that correct? OK so I I guess my question was is there any coordination between the twos so that we're making sure that all the needs of the whole state are being met. and so do you guys work in coordination and make sure that happens and is
their organization the same as as set up as SPp. I'll take the second question
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
29:10
first so it is myso as I understand it and I'm not here to speak for myo but as I understand myo's organization it is very similar they are also mandated by FERC to have an independent board their makeup is a little bit different and they determine things a little bit different. they involvement of regulators is a little bit different in myo than it is in SPp but it's largely the same and in terms of
coordination we do have formal processes that we engage with myo and all of our neighbors not just myo to coordinate our planning activities to ensure that we're not causing problems for myso and myso's not causing problems for SBp and that when we do engage in joint projects that those are beneficial to both sides follow
Speaker 85
29:57
up so I guess you know, I think there's a lot of
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
30:07
concern that we may not be planning for the future and especially with you brought up the data centers and and the needs the power needs we're going to need going forward and we I think there's a lot of people that are worried that possibly we're not maybe we need to do things maybe to streamline the the process so that we can maybe put some of these transmission lines in place or or build new generating plants and I don't know if that would fall
under your purview or not but maybe that's the pSC but you know we just want to make sure that we're planning for the future and and being able to be flexible enough to move quickly. right so
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
30:51
in terms of plants SBp again does not own any plants we don't we don't also don't determine what new plants will be built. We do determine that for transmission but not for generation our our members are in in charge of doing that for themselves
SBp as we talked about has a quite involved planning process one of the things that we strive to do is to look out 10 I I said our plan is for 10 years we actually looked 20 years into the future. we look at things like trends in data centers but not just that general electrification we've engaged with consultants to do studies to determine how things are going to play out over the next 10 to20 years and then also looking at
new types of generation what trends are playing out what political considerations are playing out and we try to plan the system so that it is flexible enough to meet all of those various scenarios should they they come into fruition but it's a it's a balancing act and it's one that we are continually doing so every year we're going through this same exercise and looking at what what did we plan last year does it still make sense or have things changed and do we need to pivot and and go a different direction
Chair
Unverified
32:14
thank you thank you Mr chairir. Senator flowers you recognized for a
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
32:22
question thank you thank you I'm trying to understand this whole process is the pool and you mentioned all these rules and regulations policies that have to be considered and complied with and I'm just trying to figure out ok you have state public
utilities commission ofublic Services commission and then you have FERC then you have your individual members and so you say you SWP SP p you you
all coordinate what I was hearing the generation of and the transmission
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
33:18
of energy and is that correct ? SBp coordinates the transmission part basically we our members determine what generators they're going to be on the system we don't directly influence that they tell us where those generators are gonna be members our members yes
Speaker 100
33:38
in the utility companies and and customers yes so do your your members have to first get approval
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
33:48
and permits from FERC for transmission yes and from the different states
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
33:58
so generally how it works is SBp issues a directive to our member to construct a certain asset then SP SP directs our member to construct a new line for example, then that member that utility company Swepco or OG&E then they go through the
process of getting whatever certificates are needed from the state in order to build that and they're in charge of acquiring the right of way and you know paying for any right of way that they need to acquire in order to construct that asset that's that's their responsibility to satisfy those state requirements where
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
34:39
does FERC come in at the beginning of this or just throughout just so FEC well it it's it's all over
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
34:50
really but it plays out in the planning process in that FerRC requires that the planning process follows certain procedures it has to satisfy certain goals it also has to meet certain standards like the North American Electric Reliability Council standards that say what kind of scenarios the transmission system has to be able to withstand so that's directed to the members that's directed to SPp and the members but
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
35:22
are going to bring it to SPp so they it seems like they
would have to have some idea of what's required by FerC before they
can even present something they do
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
35:35
and they they they participate in our committees and and processes to determine what the best types of they determine the study scope how the study is done as well as they contribute to determining what types of
Speaker 99
35:53
upgrades would be determined through that process and then but
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
35:58
I guess the last point of approval would be after this committee has determined where to put the transmission lines is the state or does that come before or
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
36:14
the state has ultimate authority over what gets built in in in the
Speaker 55
36:18
state and so they're they would have to approve or cert
certify whatever is built by the transmission owner yes and whatever
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
36:29
is approved by SPp yes well if SBp issues
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
36:34
that directive if the state does not agree with that then SbP might have to review its plan and come up with another alternative ok and there is something that I saw
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
36:46
in your presentation in my handout it's some it's like page13
the use of this phrase SPp tariff transmission facilities that me criteria
in the SPp tariff and our approved for construction known as competitive upgrade can you give me more on that what is what are you talking
about here so the tariff refers to the tariff that is filed with FERc
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
37:29
so it is the the document that explains the processes the study processes that we go through what's required for customers to gain access it's it's the the money it's gonna cost a
Speaker 114
37:40
customer is that what you're talking about
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
37:42
the processes that SBp uses to determine what upgrades should be built. so I
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
37:48
mean it sounds like a different understanding of the
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
37:53
word tariff it is different at the state level generally that's how
much you'd pay dollar per megawatt how much a retail customer would would pay and there is a component to that in SBp's tariff but it's primarily about the a tariff process the tariff determines how SBp goes about doing its its functions it also lays out how SBp will collect revenue from its customers and give those back to them to operate their transmission
Speaker 55
38:30
system so it's only about the operation of the transmission system. it sounds more like it's about money too
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
38:34
what you just said there's a component to that in it yes. but it
Speaker 118
38:37
all has to be approved by at least the state and your tariff
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
38:41
process is that approved by FRC? It is yes and by the state it is not approved by the state no. so because it's approved by the fed FRC
Speaker 55
39:01
it doesn't matter whether it's approved by the state or not is that what you're saying? it is a federal tariff that SPp files with FERc and it meets those requirements that FERC sets out for transmission planning and transmission accessenator flowers I hate to interrupt you
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
39:19
but could we OK we have numerous people in the queue so if you could get back in the queue I'd appreciate that thank you senator Representative Tos you are recognized for a question
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
39:32
thank you Mr Chair . I'm just curious has this type of legislation or similar legislation has it been introduced in other states and if so was that legislation adopted or was it rejected or what was the outcome if it was introduced from my knowledge
I was the first to just to get the conversation started they were having
Speaker 39
39:58
conversations in the other states where this legislation was their they
are named and I forget them off the top of my head but those conversations have and a lot of that had to do with you know each of them do different things like Louisiana is a different structure than what we have and so how this kind of stuff would come come along with may be different and again like we can go ahead and do the study on this and I think we should but the bigger piece to this is like we need to have a conversation about how we're going to ensure that we have good transmission line policy in the state that's the bigger picture here like the the
compact could be the way it may not be the way but we need to be sure that we know that we have the best transmission policy in the in the nation as far as I' Senator
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
40:52
Urvin you're recognized for a question thank you Mr chairir.
So, how does this compact as proposed interact with the PSC in the state of Arkansas.
Speaker 133
41:07
So I can largely speak on what the psC does currently with regard to transmission. I I think besides interacting with the PSC in an informational component I don't interpret this compact to in any way impact the authority or jurisdiction or a charter of the PSC but that's that's just my understanding of it. I don't want to
Speaker 134
41:29
, I don't want to speak on behalf of it if I'm wrong on that .
Speaker 135
41:40
so again I'm sorry. are you with Southwest Power pool? I apologize no I'm Danny Hofer chief of staff at the PSC OK, I
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
41:48
just wanted to make sure I got that clear. that's what I thought but every I'm getting confused as to who's with whom. um, OK. so I guess a little bit like what Senator Flowers was talking about the money I'm trying to understand how what the protection is for the people that are paying the rates and how does that factor in to the tariff that you're
describing in response to Senator Flower's questions how are those regulated uh, if you adopted this compact cause I think we're here to talk about the compact idea correct? I mean I understand your proposal that you've given us a presentation but are you here in support of this legislation or not in support of it? If so give me the
pros if not give me the cons
Speaker 44
42:46
I would say two things like we also like so we only have one representative here from SPP
Speaker 39
42:52
we have another representative from beckert and another representative we have of course from the publiclicervice commission and then this is the vice president of EPpl advisors they all also have something they would like to say in their own right separate from Sp p and and we've already accept we've already adopted the ISP before this so now we're just kind of
discussing yeah this proposal but also I think the bigger conversation of us having and focusing on transmission because it's gonna be if we did something today it could be up to 9 years before we could get lines built so understand why
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
43:26
you want to have the conversation. I'm just looking at the legislation that's been proposed through the the ISP which I think was presented during the session correct and so what SPp has presented to me sounds very similar to what this is and so I guess I just need to know you know, would this be
duplicative of what's already in existence with SPp and the other myo or is this a bureaucratic, more of a bureaucratic approach to putting into concrete of what's currently happening I'm just trying to understand this thought process because what was presented seems to me what's already happening within your legislation as a compact. There's kind already a compact
going on with the members of Southwest Power pool. they've you're already operating in that way. The the issue for the state of Arkansas though is you have this but then you also have a another pretty large presence there with the other entity so I'm if somebody can explain the lay of the land there for me that would be really helpful Hey good morning my name is
Brent Bailey
Unverified
44:47
Brent Bailey and I know I'll be sharing some comments here soon. you certainly to bring up some good points about the process going forward and creating you know certainly avoid creating a new bureaucratic level of oversight the ultimate point is to bring more opportunity to bring vis visibility to the process I know just by the questions I've heard coming from this body this morning it does get complex and is challenging to understand where the state fits in this where the federal
fits in this and we're your regional planning organizations such as SPp or Mysoits ands and that's what we hope by the compact is to bring more clarity, more understanding and more visibility to members of legislative particularly to help coordinate crossstate construction of these type of lines so that when you're going building a a high voltage transmission line and you're going across state lines the project does not stop because there's inequality in house standards or how permitting siding and
certification occurs as we look at what are the long term long term goals and strategies for economic development for reliability and resiliency within our transmission network not just from Arkansas but across the region and particularly for the long term benefit of Arkansas as well so I hope that kind of answers where we're going at sure tariffs play a role in that and and in dollars but this is certainly to create a more informed decision making body within the legislature and other
legislatures across the region to ensure we have some type of of uniform and standardization in permitting a siding that helps a little bit thank you. I'm
Chair
Unverified
46:30
I'll make it back in the line. Representmcgrew you're recognized for a
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
46:37
question. thank you chairman and got a couple
of questions one is in in our appreciate your explanation of the southwest Power pole and what you do and it sounds like you y'all do a great job of coordinating
between all the members and all and going to the future I have a concern that the growth that we're having, I know the growth that we're having now is tremendously more than what we had in the past much faster much quicker and and at higher incline so is the system you got the way you're working if it takes3 day year eight years to put infras tru c ture in place is that going to be quick enough or are we going to be in trouble or do we need to change something in that. The other thing is I don't know that I
understand it's what the compact is doing. seems like you're already doing this planning and all. is someone going to explain the compact and what it does or where we go from there
Speaker 39
47:39
I mean I think I think broadly what this would do is it would ensure that the four states listed in the compact would be having similar permitting structures to ensure that we can build transmission
lines as quickly as possible. so that we can meet the needs of the
Speaker 153
47:57
region that's and that's part of the answer
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
48:01
but when the government gets involved and starts doing this generally we drive the cost up and in some ways maybe we need to get out of the way so that they can work together is that what this does
or does it make it more complicated and actually slow the process that's that's a great point. I
Speaker 39
48:16
mean we're already out of the way and it's it's already taking 8 or 9 years so I would be in I guess my point would be
ensuring that we all can look at each other in the face and ensuring that we're doing all that we can to make sure our policies are friendly for transmission high voltage transmission lines across the state and again I I have two other well I guess three other members who have presentations that they'd like to speak on this so maybe we can get more information from them. Representativeladyman
Chair
Unverified
48:48
you're recognized for a question. thank you Mr Chair and I'll I'll I just got two brief questions I'll try
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
48:52
to be brief and let the other presenters go but Mr
Purdy so I'm just trying to understand based on what the question's been asked so as far as regulation southwestower pool I mean who is your reg main regulator FERC is that the main regulations that you look at to operate your your business or your entity so primarily FERc but we
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
49:17
are regulated by the states that that we operate in as well well that was my second question at
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
49:26
the state level say in Arkansas what what are the primary regulations there I mean is that regulations that are in our department ofnergy or for environmental and that sort of thing is that who you look to at the state level for the regulations that affect you and I'm not familiar
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
49:43
with that that part of it but I'm more familiar with the federal part but theublicervice commission we we have in our committees we have public service commissions of all the states
that participate in looking at S B P ' s processes and cost allocation and so on and they have input into that the specific rules and regulations are in the p the individual state laws and and PSE regulations for that individual state. OK one more question and this may be for Dany
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
50:17
this may be for you at PSC but I'm a little fuzzy on southwestower pool will come up with a need in a region or an
area and they'll put that out but the people that are gonna build the power supply plants the power generators how would that be chosen you may be able to answer this better. so if if if Power pool says hey we need uh700 megawatts in northeast Arkansas and you have the corridor there where you need it then how would that provider of a power plant be chosen or would they come to you
how how would that process happen? normally is that a question you can't answer on if it's not
Speaker 134
51:08
that's ok. I mean I can offer to you that they do not come to the PSC for that. I I can't tell you who they go to if that's something they go through asP p I I can just I can go into like the full what the PE does in that but if you just want a quick answer yeah if there's just a specific area determined to build transmission in the pSC
is not involved in that if there is a specific facility
Speaker 160
51:35
proposed it may come to the PSC there's there's definitely some nuance within that. just
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
51:46
has rules regarding resource adequacy for our members so they have to they have to have enough generation to cover their load plus an additional amount and that's that's where SPps requirement stops we don't
tell them how to satisfy that need or what plants to build they decide that and then once they've decided that they come to SBp and say what is this going to do to the transmission system if we put this plant here and we do an analysis and then they go to the state and and obtain the certifications and permits necessary and get approval from the state to put that generator into their
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
52:27
involved in that OK I'll let the other presenters present then thank you.
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
52:34
senator flowers right to ask for a question thank you guess this is for the
sponsor I'm trying to understand this and you you want Arkansas to enter into a compact agreement with Mississippi, Louisiana Texas's that's it where did you get this idea?
Speaker 39
53:05
It's a great question so I spoke with a couple of individuals who they brought this legislation forward to me and I mean who who are these individuals are they from
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
53:14
the energy and like what I mean just be frank it was a lobbyist from
Speaker 163
53:19
the community and he he he showed this to me I was like this seems like
Speaker 39
53:24
a great idea to lower transmission costs if we can have conversations I think I think one thing that's interesting is we went back to one of the other slides that
showed like what what my what SPp has or myso has what's like like there's a lot of and there's other RTOs that
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
53:44
believe in like electric riability of so
Speaker 39
53:47
we've got multiple different transmission operators existing in those four states just under trying to understand where this idea
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
53:55
came from and what the people that brought it to you you say they think it'll be able
Speaker 39
54:07
to lower our rates how would let Mr Bailey talk about that but you don't know well he's he he was a public service commissioner in Mississippi you brought thisenator flowers I'm not an expert I have to be honest I I I see a good idea. I think it's a good idea and I learn and we go with the process and I'm glad we're discussing it so we can
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
54:28
all learn about it and all I'm asking is why do you think you think this is a good idea because I think if
Speaker 39
54:34
we did not have as many different entities having to argue different states arguing
different RTOs arguing about how they want something done it's just a single process this is how we're going to do the thing to get a electric line from Arkansas to Texas then it seems like it's gonna be a lot easier to run that line so that we can meet the
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
54:55
needs of our citizens as I recall Texas has been having a whole lot of problems with transmission so why would we get into a a
compact with the state that's got more issues in that regard than we do well we're all interconnected
Speaker 39
55:11
there Ucott is a different RTO than SPp and and myo and so and they're in very different parts of the nation and so if we have those kinds of conversations of lines running between different entities we can continue to help each other out when I look at SPp a few weeks ago. I mean that they just showed their map of what they where was it at on slide four but they have connectivity all the way to the west coast and Washington and Oklahoma they can get electricity from if they
need it when it's let's say it's lights down here but they've still got solar on the west coast and we have wind up in the center part of America we can run and run that market and ensure that everyone has electricity so having a wide variety not just of resources but different areas of the country that can produce that electricity is going to be better for Arkansas it's gonna be better for the other states as well and better for the region. me and Fort Smith, I mean I know Oklahoma's not on this not in the compact but I'm an SPp guy I think our electricity is produced about30 minutes west of
me in Oklahoma south of Spiros I think where a lot of the power production is there and so you know this legislation I'm not even sure if it would help me particularly because Oklahoma is not involved in this but I would want if Arkansas had high high need for electricity. Fortsmith specifically that there'd be easy transmission line policies between the two states so I can ensure that I can get the jobs and the electricity in my area. Well did Fortsmith have an
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
56:44
option to maybe join miso well that's actually interesting so
Speaker 39
56:51
SP p is here in littlettleRock but SVp isn't powered by SPp's southwestern Power pole headquarters is not powered by the southwestern etow pole and that was the decision on the utility company because they wanted a different way to to I guess be regulated and so the that power company moved to miso but
SPp had already built the stuff they're here and they want to want to be here
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
57:20
so they had already built the stuff the
Speaker 39
57:22
transmission no headquarters they weren't going to move their headquarters that they had just built because the energy company decided
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
57:28
to move so it's more about what's in the best interest of the company sounds like then what's in the best interest of the ratepayer don't know
about that man and choosing what pool you want to go to or what do you call this a the RT O is that what you call this
Speaker 163
57:46
whole thing it's a transmission operatorenator flowers
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
57:50
if you if you could thank you Representative Wooton you're recognized for a question thank you
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
57:58
chairman I guess this question for Mr Purdy are we adding another layer of someone for you to have to go through in order to be able to achieve your I mean I just cut through it
is this is that what we're
doing representative I I don't know that I would look at it that way we we coordinate with multiple different layers of stakeholders and regulators and state entities and if this were to come to pass it would be another of those that we would coordinate in our our study process and our development
Speaker 55
58:48
process we would work with whatever we needed to work with in order to develop transmission
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
58:55
that's a very good bureaucratic answer but what I'm asking is do you see this as another layer that you have to work through in order to be able to achieve the3 to9 year building process it's an additional consideration that we would have topresentative
I would say this though the reason I asked the
question is because I've heard Ferk I've heard members I've heard states I've heard other entities and now we're adding another entity and another question I have Mr Chairman, if I may is of the six on takeaways of the six that you have listed enabling economic development is the fifth one. Are they in order
of priority that y'all see them or are they in just there that wasn't intended to indicate
Speaker 66
59:56
a priority except that I will say that reliability is the number one priority. So so you see economic development from the
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:00:05
southwestower pool is being fifth in priority is that what you're saying? No sir no that's not what I said I said they're not in order of priority they're not they're not
in order of priority not in order of priority we see reliability as job one but those are also other those other considerations are also important it's just that if the lights don't stay on then you don't have any economic you know ability to
to 11 more question let me be sure are you the final say in whether transmission line is built within interstate or interstate
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:00:57
His SPp the final authority? SBp determines what type of infrastructure is needed but we don't necessarily determine specifically whether a particular line is constructed in a particular location and if if a company declines to construct for whatever reason SPp would come up with an alternative if needed
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:01:24
another one do we do you do you find yourself in a position of let's say you know we started with Jones Mill in 1941 and that was the economic development if I'm correct down there for that aluminum plant it was for the war effort actually ok right that was the economic development if I'm correct down there for that aluminum plant it was for the war effort actually ok all right then do you find yourself at times
choosing between states that are competing from
the same facility economic development generally no SBp takes whatever our
members tell us they need so if they tell us I need a a new plant or a new load in this location than SBp takes that need into our planning processes so we we depend on our members to tell us their needs and and what what they need to
satisfy those right thank you very much thank
Speaker 39
1:02:31
you Mr chairman. I would say one thing when we talk about diff the layers if if someone's coming to build a line through Arkansas and through Texas that's two layers if we have similar policies then that two layers just becomes one layer and it's easier because they're consistent. that would that would be my argument for this whole thing is it's not multiple different layers it's one layer . and with that I would like to have my next person
this is a representative from beckert corporation. I believe you
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:03:02
have but if you would go ahead and introduce yourself again for the record and
Speaker 184
1:03:08
present your testimony please. thank you Daniel Burkwitz with beckart Corporation steve thank you for your time and Representativegramlich thank you for
Speaker 186
1:03:15
having me here today. good morning I again I'm Dan Dan Burkowitz mechanical engineer from beckhart so I wanna kind of talk about the critical opportunity for the Arkansas grid and how advanced conductor technologies
can deliver fair efficient and future readyad transmission solutions so really focus on how using technology can reduce the costs for the ratepayers. this is our factory in Van Burreen, Arkansas where we're manufacture the steel wire strand. we sit next to the Arkansas River on Interstate40 at the Arkansas Oklahoma border we have access to barges coming from Mississippi River rail and truck and so we get our steel rod from ills and take that rod, clean it, prepare it and transform it using a
process called pickling and among others we draw it to the correct diameter and then put it through a zinc and sometimes zinc aluminum bath and finally we take that wire and strand it together into se wire strands that's used in overhead power lines. I have a couple samples here for those that want to come check them out afterwards so I kind of just want to dive into the current state of the Arkansas grid first explore how we can modernize it with smarter, faster and more cost effective approaches
so Arkansas transmission infrastructure is is aging according to the department of Energy,70% of the US grid is over 25 years old that's just not a stat it's a it's a challenge to reliability efficiency and capacity myos december 2024 forecast projected a53% increase in long term electricity demand so that's a that's a huge load increase and Arkansas must be ready for that so but you know to talk a
little bit more about that Arkansas lost about3.5% of its energy in transmission and distributions that's energy loss that's not being being used just dissipates to the atmosphere that's according to thenergy Information Administration this is the good thing about that it's it's lower than the nation's average of about5% but3.5% is still large. electricity losses occur between the point of generation and delivery to the customer this loss occurs due to inherent
resistance in electric conductors as well as other factors such as inductance and capacitances and the electric grid power lines the loss of energy is typically manifest as heat reducing the overall efficiency of the electrical energy transmission. Line losses contribute to inefficiencies in the energy system and lead to higher electricity costs for consumers. as utilities must compensate for these losses when setting electricity rates in the wholesale energy market. So I'll do a quick calculation at that at a rate of about 9.73
cents per kilowatt hour that's over $100 million in losses per year utilities do not bear the cost the ratepayers do this is where the the line loss matters over the average conductor lifespan of about50 years this number jumps to5.2 billion dollars in energy loss that that nobody uses so percentages matter remember that as we discussed in a few slides so calculating the power loss distribution and electrical systems is complicated unless
you're an electrical engineer for those types the formula is power loss is your i squad R and for the rest of us it's just the electric current squared multiplied by the resistance of the conductors that equals your your total loss so reducing the current is the best solution followed by the resistance and this can significantly reduce our our losses so let's keep that in mind as we explore further we want to reduce that current so let's talk about the options that we have and and I'm
sorry and and and upgrading the Arkansas grid so the first one is is the new build so that's building a brand new transmission line. It's it's a high initial cost long lead times as we've been discussing you know3 to9 years as Steve said but it is pretty futureproof rebuild is is medium cost typically takes 3 to 4 years we could almost double the capacity or more in that scenario and then finally reconducting
this is low costs and really fast typically one or two years and we can up to double the capacity using the existing structures so we don't have to take down any towers so reconducting really is a sweet spot it's minimal disruption, faster deployment and significant significant capacity so let's talk about the tools we have this is a tools and a toolbox approach to make sure that we want to pick the right tool for the right application. there are several conductor types each with unique
properties the ACSR which is your alumin conductors steel reinforced is a traditional round wire over steel. it's reliable it's what the Arkansas grid has been built with since the grid's inception in in the early 1900s but it's got little limited capacity and efficiency the next technology is the ACSs which is the aluminum conductor steel supported in this technology we use a kneeled aluminum which improves conductivity and allows higher
operating temperatures aluminum is in this type does not help with structural performance anymore and the steel bears the structural load and then we have also an ACSs TW we actually changed the geometry from round wire to a trapezoidal wire and this design packs more aluminum into the same diameter boosting capacity this conductor this conductor right here is the best solution from a total cost of ownership perspective not to
mention that we can make it here in Arkansas and then finally there's for for other nische areas we have a plastic composite carbon fiber core that uses trapezoid aluminum it has a high first cost typically3 to4 times the cost of ACSR and some beneficial characteristics like high temperature sag reduction so these technologies aren't just theoretical they're proven they allow us to upgrade without rebuilding and they're compatible with the existing
infrastructure so kind of talk about the you know quantifying the impact of each of these technologies so utilizing the trapezoidal wire we can increase the efficiency by 20% and increase the capacity by 10%. higher operating temperatures so using this a kneeled aluminum can boost the capacity up to 80% of although if you look at it from an efficiency perspective it it drops as you increase
the temperature of a conductor. the ability to run hotter is also a great tool in your back pocket because during peak demands you can you can run the conductor a bit hotter and to get that the load that you need at the capacity so larger essentially larger conductors and stronger cores allow more aluminum improving both efficiency and capacity the annealed aluminum alone can improve conductivity by 1
to1.5% with minimal cost increase these changes are scalable and cost effective. Most add less than 10% to conductor cost yet can deliver double digit perform this this slide shows kind of backs it up this is a study from Idaho National Laboratory uhm part of the department of Energy it's called thedvanced conductor scan report it is continually being updated so the most recent revision is
like 12 right now revision 1el so I highlighted in blue below at the bottom of this table here the ACSs TW MA5 conductor offers the highest capacity improvement of any commercially available conductor on the market today. so when a reconductor scenario you could take down the old line and put up this this new conductor that's that's manufactured and and more than double the capacity on the same
line for a modest52% cost increase compared to the traditional conductor. so it even if you look at some of the other options in there even the the basic ACSs round wire conductor can deliver 174% capacity increase just for a minor 8% of the cost of the the incumbent conductor that's up there so these are not marginal improvements they're transformational they're already in use across the country. I've included a case study references to these
successes and and the appendix of this presentation there's there's quite a few of them so I won't go into each 11 of them but they're there for your reference looking at the economic the economics of using these advanced conductors according to this is analysis used from myso's cost estimation guide we compared two conductors so we have the ACSs trap wire uane conductor can deliver $2150
per 1000 ft delivering over 2000 amps. it's only $2000 2150 dollars per 1000 ft and alternatively there's other types of materials out there that use the carbon fiber they're typically3 times the cost. I can't meet the capacity so the advanced steel core conductors that are manufacturing in vanbu in Arkansas on an economics perspective typically deliver what is needed for the the Arkansas ratepayers and
that's that's the you know reduction and cost to their utility bills the Swane conductor delivers more amps at less than half the cost per amp and it's the compelling case of like I mentioned for as far as upgrading the Arkansas grid at beckart we're committed to accelerating innovation that delivers more capacity reliability resiliency and affordability to the US grid and Arkansas grid we want to be part of the conversation whether it's
reconducting grid enhancing technologies or network upgrade challenges have some references here we've we've published white papers and partnered with utilities nationwide. the data is clear the advanced steel core conductors that are that are made in Van Buren are the fastest and most cost effective way to modernize your grid we would like to work together with you to deploy these solutions and thank you for your time look forward to discussing how we can support your transmission goals.
Chair
Unverified
1:14:23
thank you for for your testimony we do have a question Representativeladyman you're recognized thank you Mr Chairman. thank
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:14:32
you for that presentation that's very interesting and I didn't realize it was made in Arkansas. I'm a little familiar with that but so have can you give us an idea of have you done replacement or provided this type of wire for replacement in large projects in our state or in other states as far as replacing the lines
Speaker 186
1:14:53
have y'all done some of that? entergy entergy has used some of our ACSs conductors typically 95% of the US grid is outfitted with with the steel core conductors and and the majority of that's coming from Van Buren. we're promoting the use of that more often to you know
Speaker 188
1:15:11
to show that it's a way to reduce the cost to the ratepayers I'd like to ask
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:15:18
Southwestower pool a question about your wire so
do y'all or or who would look at if you needed more capacity in an area who would would you look at the wire versus a new line I mean who who makes who looks at that how's that decision made can you
Speaker 119
1:15:39
kind of add to that so in SPp's planning process
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:15:43
when we identify a need a constraint you know a a line that's limited or an area that needs additional power we identify that as a need and then we request
customers or members or anyone that wants to to submit proposals for how that need might be met and so they might submit a reconductor of an existing line they might submit you know a suggestion that involves a newer conductor like this or they might suggest something else as a conventional replacement and then SBp will evaluate those and determine which one is the most effective which one has the best
economic you know return value associated with it and then select based on on those inputs right thank
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:16:34
you Thank you no more questions so moving I guess to the next witness, Miss Hofer if you'd introduce yourself and present your testimony. thank
Speaker 46
1:16:45
you Mr Chairannnyhofer, chief of staff at the PSC the PSC is here in an informational capacity so
Speaker 135
1:16:51
we're not here in any kind of advocacy role either for or against the compact we're really
just here to provide information on our involvement the role that we play in transmission. so the commission plays two main roles with regard to transmission. The first, the commission has some siding authority for new or replacement transmission, though not over all transmission facilities. Those transmission facilities that fall under commission jurisdiction for
Speaker 133
1:17:22
this purpose are required to file an application with the commission seeking a certificate of public
Speaker 135
1:17:31
convenience or and necessity. sorry we speak in acronym so we call it a CECpN but its full name is a certificate of
Speaker 46
1:17:41
public convenience and necessity This applies to facilities defined as major utility facilities under 2318503 and this would
Speaker 133
1:17:48
include for the sole purpose of requiring an environmental impact statement under this subtra subchapter an electric transmission line and associated facilities including substations of so here's here's
the facilities that actually fall under pSE jurisdiction where a
Speaker 135
1:18:04
utility would have to come in and ask the pSC to go ahead and construct this. it would be ad or to get a CCpN at least.
Speaker 133
1:18:15
it would be a design voltage of 100kv or more and extending a distance of more than 10 miles or a design voltage of 170kV or more and extending a distance of more than 1 mile.
a transmission facility owned in excess of50% by a wholesale generator does not fall under psC jurisdiction with regard to citing approval. and the PSC does not have jurisdiction for transmission planning. The second role that the commission plays in transmission is our participation in the RTO stakeholder process. So the commissioners and our staff both actively participate in both of Arkansas's RTOs that
would be Southwest Power pool or SPp and myo and the role we play in each RTO differs slightly as Mr. Purdy referenced earlier they're very similar organizations they do have some internal nuances so this so based on those nuances we do still play an active role in both RTOs and our participation in both is limited to cost allocation reliability and affordability
Speaker 135
1:19:34
which may directly impact the affordability and reliability of the system in Arkansas. iding is
Speaker 133
1:19:41
not an area in which the commission plays a role with regard to either of the RTOs. SP p one of our commissioners serves on SPp's regional state committee or the RSC as mentioned earlier by Mr Purdy, the RSC is comprised of one commissioner from each state within the SPP footprint and provides joint input from state
regulatory agencies to the SPp and its board of directors committees working groups and task forces. The RSC has primary authorities in SPp which means that when the RSC approve or that what the RSC approves is filed at FARC. the topics in which the RC has that primary authority is cost allocation resource adequacy and long term congestion rates. we also have one staff member who serves on SPps cost
allocation working group or the cog and a second staff member who supports these efforts.Og is comprised of one staff member for each state who participates in the SPp working group or who parti who is a part of the SPp footprint. and essentially operates as the technical support for the RSC so it's basically the staff that supports the commissioners who are assigned to that RSC.
at myo, another one of our commissioners serves on myo's organization of myo states or OMS as we call it. I'm sorry, I just like come in here and annoy you guys with acronyms and initialisms I know. OMS is the formal organization of the 15 state commissions in myo's footprint. that commissioner also serves on the board of ERSC which is another stakeholder group within myo ERSC stands for
entergyregional stateittee and is a unique stakeholder entity of myo southern commissions Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. one of our staffers serves as the chair of the ERICorroup. I want to emphasize that our work both in myo and SPp impacts Arkansas ratepayers and our staff and commission work hard to make sure that unfair costs are not passed down to retail ratepayers. Two examples are the
current litigation that we have going on right now um, our Fifth Circuit appeal of the jointargeted interconnection queue process which unfairly assigns costs to Arkansas and are pending FERC appeal of tranche 2, although both are pending and therefore my comments are pretty much limited to just referencing them both complaints share the underlying concern of the commission in making sure that costs are not unfairly heaped on the ratepayers, especially once those costs are set at the
Speaker 135
1:22:42
federal level because thenark the Arkansas commission is preempted from changing them. we are
Speaker 133
1:22:47
also aware of and tracking the recent notice of proposed rulemaking docket at FERC stemming from a Department of Energy request that will potentially preempt the RTOs and the state's legislatures and commissions from setting regulations for large load additions to the transmission grid. we have a total of5 staffers in addition to commissioners who take on these substantial roles with the RTOs and the RTO stakeholder groups and that is
Speaker 198
1:23:13
in addition to their full-time PE duty so we do not have any RTO dedicated staffers. thank you for your testimony we do
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:23:24
have some questions Representative Richardson you're recognized for a question. Thank you Mr Chair. real quick myo yes
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
1:23:29
and the other one SP p do either one of those have corporate offices in the state they do they both have corporate offices right here in littlettleRock. OK and how many
SPp you can probably answer this how many employees do you currently employ here in the state?
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:23:52
in the state we we have some remote about30 or35 that are remote the remainder about 850 or so are here in LittleRock. OK thank Representativemcgrew you're
Speaker 113
1:23:59
recognized for a question assuming what you're already
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:24:16
dealing with with SPp and myo. seems like quite a bit it's going to require more personnel if we go into this compact and also do the is there additional fees for all of these members that have to that they have to pay to be part of this comba willll and increase the fees to the customers from
Speaker 133
1:24:36
my understanding of it I don't I'll take your second question first regarding fees. I have not perceived there to be fees associated that would be passed on to retail ratepayers.
However, with regard to your first question I'm, I'm not certain regarding our staffing needs. I think it would make sense to have the same personnel currently working on SPp and myo to also work on this they would be the most familiar with it. However, as I did mention they are not dedicated solely to RTO work so is it within their bandwidth it's it's not specific to this it's just
Speaker 198
1:25:14
there's always a question of bandwidth for us.
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
1:25:19
guess the question is more would it require more personnel are these people not busy right now and they have time to do
Speaker 133
1:25:33
the extra work it is it is unc I'm uns I'm unclear at this time. It it is possible that it could require additional personnel but I'm I'm not committed to that and would would just add on to like
Speaker 39
1:25:45
you know we've we've actually already adopted the ISP
I'm glad we're still having a conversation about the compact because I think it's important that we get an idea if this is something we need to do or not but right now I think we need to have like this the the purpose of this was really just to have a larger conversation about like just transmission in the state and and how we're doing in that and I'm glad she's here so she can help have a conversation with us about how that would affect the ratepayer but I I I really we can continue to talk about the compact but I really want to keep it focused on like transmission and what we're going to do in the state to
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
1:26:20
ensure we've got the best policy.
Chair
Unverified
1:26:26
Representative Ledyman directed asked for a question. Thank you Mr chairir. well
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:26:31
you know the electrons don't know where the state line is right? so they're produced in Oklahoma or whatever and they go everywhere and you all are involved in in rates now because like intergs in five states and like you said the portion of their production what comes to Arkansas. So but my question is
in the past have there been issues when it comes to interstate transmission with Arkansas law versus say Oklahoma since we're talking about northwest Arkansas I mean have there been issues there that had to be worked out in the state laws that might be improved by a compact I am not
Speaker 133
1:27:15
familiar with specific areas of law that might cause a
Speaker 134
1:27:24
conflict as you mentioned as I mentioned the the POC has has limited transmission jurisdiction so especially in terms of interstate transmission we are aware of those things we we participate in stakeholder groups but I almost , I don't know if that's a question better opposed to SP p or do you have any comments on that? I'm not aware of
Speaker 119
1:27:49
any state laws or regulations that that
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:27:55
that we deal with that are problematic most of the regulations that determine how Sbp plans the system are federal in nature or or related to the North Americanlectricreliability Council. thank you
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:28:10
Thank youpresentative Weermann seeing no further
questions for miss I apologize Senator Johnson you're recognized Danny you said something
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:28:21
about the federalnergy and a policy on
that would limit our regulation ability on large loads could you go into that a little bit because that's about the only thing that's rang my bell so far. so
Speaker 133
1:28:36
I can get you some more information on that besides that I am gene generally
Speaker 134
1:28:41
aware of it. I don't have enough understanding of it to give you much more than what I mentioned but I can follow up and and get you quite a bit more. is that
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:28:53
something that's happening that this administration or previous
administration that we're dealing with or I
Speaker 133
1:28:59
am I believe that it is recent I believe it's quite recent but I'm not certain of that a little
Speaker 119
1:29:08
bit am aware that FERC and the department of Energy have recently
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:29:14
initiated a request for information from utilities and regional transmissional organizations about how to improve what they call it the speed to power
initiative to improve the speed with which new transmission projects can be developed for both data centers and for the resources the generating resources that would be needed so that's a relatively recent development. there's there's still a lot of activity going on there but that is at the federal level and did originate with
Speaker 55
1:29:45
FERC and the department of Energy so do you think they're trying to eliminate
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:29:50
some of the the regulatory bureaucracy
that states involve themselves in to create these things faster is that I mean that's what I'm hearing from your I
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:30:05
think they are looking for information primarily at this point to figure out where the bottlenecks are you know there's a there's definitely a distinction between federal and state jurisdiction that the the feds have limited levers that they can pull like they can't you know go into a state areas of state jurisdiction so I think they're trying to figure out what
Speaker 55
1:30:30
what problems exist currently that could be addressed at the federal level that's that's my perception. ' s
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:30:41
gonna be hard to get beyond that because it's our job to protect the citizens and and all all your members so thank you Senator
Irvin you're recognized for a question. Thank
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
1:30:55
you and a little bit of a follow up if
the federal government does initiate the southwest or these
groups also apply for any kind of subsidy or federal funding
because for any or is that your individual members that would apply it depends
Speaker 181
1:31:14
on what it is and the type of grant or
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:31:19
program we have been involved in projects that have received federal grants in the past and those are generally a cooperation between the states
and the utility companies applying for those grants and and going through that process but it varies with the grant and with the type of project and so
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
1:31:42
with what you just answered with Senator Johnson, do you think that the federal government is trying to explore
like you stated where the areas may be in conflict in order to direct policy through that grantmaking process. I see it more through the rule the the rules and regulations
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
1:32:04
and how to speed up things like the study evaluations that assess what the needs are and what the impacts are how to get through the the RTO and the planning processes faster in order to you know get to an issuance of a approval to construct something faster that's probably the limits to what they would have control over or authority over
the the existing regulations at the state level will probably in
Speaker 100
1:32:37
my view fall outside of of FERC's jurisdiction in that sense OK thank you Thank you senator. seeing no further questions, Mr. Bailey,
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:32:47
would you like to introduce yourself and present your testimony? hey good morning thank you Chair maddox chair Johnson and members of the
Speaker 144
1:32:58
committee it is an honor and a privilege to be here with you today as I
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:33:05
continue help continue this discussion on ways to increase access toward affordable reliable energy through beneficial transmission expansion my name is Brent Bailey and I'm former public service commissioner in Mississippi from the year 2020 to year 2024 and currently vice president EPpl advisors in central Mississippi while at the Mississippi PsC I represented the commission on the entergy regional stateittee board and thegan organization of myo State Boards which Miss Danny referenced early in her her her comments
so high voltage transmission infrastructure it's much like the arteries and veins that move blood throughout our body and just like when constriction or blockage in the arteries of our body is a problem congestion and overload on our transmission network prevents the efficient movement of electricity to our homes business and industries again that's a problem there are more than500,000 miles of transmission lines in the US and in my best guesstimate there's about 8000 miles of transmission lines in Arkansas.
the average age of the transmission grid is40 years old with a quarter of the grid at50 years old or older and transmission lines typically have a lifespan of50 to80 years so some would think we're at a critical juncture the demand for the consumption of electricity will grow in Arkansas and across the region the intensity and scale of this growth and growth and demand is still uncertain but report after report projects
robust growth and demand through the year 2035. that's just 10 years from now and did I mention that the average age of the electric grid is40 years old. so outdated transmission components create bottlenecks that prevent electricity flow as well as prevent access to more cost effective generation resources increasing the overall cost of energy for consumers aging systems are more vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, stress and outages and are less resilient in the face of extreme weather events
Older capacity constrained transmission can not only delay the interconnection of new generation facilities and also delay the interconnection of new large scale industrial customers resulting in missed economic opportunities. so are we in a crisis I guess it depends on your perspective so two weeks ago the president of the North American Electricalliability Corporation in his testimony to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said that the risk and challenges to reliability amount to a ive alarm fire
so the various risks to grid a liability that he identified the ability to cite and permit needed infrastructure is a growing challenge admittedly the ability to construct short runn instate transmission lines to address local reliability issues or other local issues other local concerns is generally not been hampered as we heard Miss Danny talk about however the construction of large scale interstate or interregional transmission lines has barely been nearly nonexistent in the region despite data detailing how the
construction of interstate transmission can create access to cost competitive clean electricity and deliver net positive benefits for Arkansans Arkansas is uniquely positioned to enjoy significant economic benefits from regional transmission expansion Currently a transmission bottleneck exists between myos northern and southern regions that limits the amount of electricity that can flow between the regions this constraint at the Arkansas Missouri border can cause congestion which forces some
generators can curtail output and leads to higher cost to consumers should that northouth transfer capacity be expanded through new transmission investment Arkansas consumers can draw from a broader portfolio generation putting downward pressure on prices and increasing reliability furthermore the the lack of a robust eastwest interregional transmission connections from myso and SPp prevents Arkansas's access to energy resources in Oklahoma and Kansas.
congestion values add greatly to the cost of energy that is acquired in a recent ins recent inrail study of options for Arkansas's energy mix found a significant need for increased interregional transfer capacity to maintain and improve reliability and resiliency relieve congestion and meet future generation and demand growth. so why hasn't this action already been taken to resolve these recognized constraints create access to more cost
effective resources and open the door for more system capacity well everybody has their opinions some say it's a a combination of of utility protectionism maybe it's a lack of substantive long range planning action and or an absence of consensus on cost allocation determination for these multi jurisdictional projects it's also true that lengthy unpredictable siding and permitting processes can slow transmission deployment increase costs reduce liability and
disrupt economic growth that's why it's so important for state and local leaders to implore their congressional members to pursue federal permitting reform reform that sets clear timelines and deadlines for agency reviews stakeholder engagement and litigation action improves coordination between federal state and local governments and streamlines final approvals particularly for those low impact projects so these reforms at the federal level will allow more construction projects to move forward confidently and with
less risk. Risk is always a factor we want to reduce . but interstate and interregional communication and cooperation amongst stakeholders particularly legislative stakeholders is still critical to ensure that local construction expansion of new interstate high voltage transmission infrastructure can occur cooperative discussion and action among states can establish consistent uniform planning siding permitting and construction that avoids misalignment of standards that can stall development of state
lines you have heard from SPP regarding some of the challenges complexity of transmission planning and deployment they've seen and experienced Bakertz described how new conductor designs can increase transmission efficiency, reduce line loss and provide net savings for customers and of course the Arkansas PSE described their process and how they review applications evaluate criteria criteria and determine if a project is in the public interest so your understanding of visibility into the critical
facets of large scale interstate transmission planning and development is key to is key to Arkansas's economic prosperity did you know that Arkansas leads the southeast and cleangy projects stuck in a generator interconnection queue at44,200 megawatts of generating capacity representing everything from solar to natural gas many billions of dollars in investments in communities across the state these projects are waiting to be evaluated whether transmission conditions allow them to be safely and
reliably integrated into the grid network. and there's broad bipartisan sport in Arkansas for grid modernization and expansion connect the clean energy resources strengthen liability and lower these costs a poll was conducted in August 2025 surveyed 1000 likely general election voters across Arkansas.70% of these voters polled support making investments in electricity grid recognizing the grid is aging and upgrades are vital for our national security
with 90% of those surveyed saying they are concerned about rising utility bills a majority of these voters are willing to pay more in the short term to upgrade transmission in order to achieve lower cross in the future so in conclusion to maintain a viable and growing Arkansas economy and to ensure a secure reliable power supply transmission must be modernized. Capacity must be expanded and it must be done in a way that is responsive to the needs and demands of future economic growth to that of the citizens
of Arkansas because for each transmission dollar invested communities and state benefit so I appreciate the opportunity to thank and thank you for your your time today and share our thoughts on the dynamics of our of our evolving economic and energy economy here in the region thank you for your testimony Senator Irvin you're
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:41:41
recognized for a question Yes, when you say clean energy can
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
1:41:45
you be specific as to what you're referring to? Well cleangy of course that that that can
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
1:41:55
consists of your traditional renewable energy resources that we're all familiar with but also clean energy falls in the definition of nuclear nonemitting natural gas and
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:42:08
other fossil fuel resources that that may or may that may utilize carbon capture sequestration technology and or hydrogen co co firing opportunities down the road as we continue to see these technologies evolve. OK, so so
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
1:42:26
you're that's the nuclear is involved and natural gas is what you're is considered clean energy according to your
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:42:34
state and each jurisdiction has their definition but certainly those non admitting generation resources typically fall within the purview of that definition
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
1:42:42
and then the last thing too I wanted to ask you, I appreciate your testimony by the way. I
I do think that it's like an important balance that we have to strike as to how we need to proceed with ramping up
our grid and providing more techno more resources however you know I I want to make sure that you have to always remember the taxpayer or the ratepayer. and the load that's going to be put on them and how how how fair is that for somebody particularly who's an elderly couple that's on fixed incomes because like you know we had we had an issue with that recently in one of my counties
that I represented and and so you know as we're looking through that has has your have you ever come across a policy where that's I don't know if Amaritized is the correct word but maybe but to where the policy is really considerate of of of how it's paid for by ratepayers taking into consideration somebody who is an elderly couple who's who may have to pay for this but we'll never
actually realize the benefit from it. that that is a
Speaker 237
1:44:03
that is a a question that any utility regulator has wrestled with in any part of
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:44:09
their career to to consider the the the rate impacts across the customer base you know not trying to favor or discriminate against any one rape class but certainly the elderly and how do you you know, determine you know what what that impact is going to be going forward you've seen things in other places like maybe certain
considerations given to SnAP beneficiaries or others to give them access to certain tools certain programs to help offset some of those cost increases there's challenges in in applying those typically resources run short and it is a challenge and I don't know if there's certainly no one way to resolve that but how these investments are made
how cost are allocated through the cost causers and who's the ultimate beneficiaries are to ensure that those creating in those investments are typically footing most of those costs and that's where the various principles fall in that that SPp and others have to be cognizant of and I know Arkansas and even my statement of Miss Mississippi are involved in certain measures to further define those and it's something that's gonna have to continue to be talked about
and again that's something where the compact could lead to more visibility with decision makers who ultimately answer constituents public service commissioners in Arkansas are appointed. I was elected so it it was phone always rang every day from unhappy ratepayers those considered bills so I get that
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
1:45:56
and it is a decision I have to work with I appreciate it thank you for the conversation.
Speaker 229
1:46:07
thank you senator Irvin seeing no further question I
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:46:15
apologize'm gonna go apologize umm Senator John so so just
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:46:19
you know this is all theoretical and and part of the discussion and in this compact and not a set policy or anything that we're considering here today but me is sitting here we would need to if if we
into this thing and in the processes you know hi you you spoke about you know the north south and east and west and north south you know SBp sets in between my soul in that north south you know state line border area and and and you're going from myso to SBp east west
and a lot of a lot of these efficiencies I think is what Danny was addressing on the department of Energy level on the federal level rather than state to state level because most of the most of the issues that I think SBp and myso have is is federal regulation not state to state regulation amm I wrong in anything I said No sir, but you know the way
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
1:47:45
that the compact has been discussed is is really
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:47:49
RTO specific you know the states that were mentioned Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas are all involved in myo South yes they share some areas with SPp Mississippi shares area further to the east in the Surtep region but it's really to coordinate and and create more instructional visibility and understanding within the process from the legislative perspective and that to avoid and understand
if there may be certain misalignment in state permitting processes and find that and have a conversations at that level to potentially resolve that this conversation is also going on in in upper SPp in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana they've expressed interest in something along those lines and even in in what's called the pJm RTO further to the east Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania are looking at this concept as well no two are the same I get that but there are other states
within the nation that are that are looking at this discussion to have this this communication at the legislative level again not usurping any state authority that their public service commissions will have but better understanding and ideas of what are the challenges complexities of long range transmission planning interstate interregional planning and how they can better accommodate de facilitate a more a more consistent and simpler approach is what we all want to achieve with this you know compacts are nothing new
art this you know we all are compacts and interstates we recognize each other's driver's license, nursing's license, building contractor license Arkansas is part of the the compact that authorized the southern state's Energy Board has interest on that and of course they have specific functions as well so this is hopefully an opportunity to to focus on interstate interregional transmission opportunities to ensure cost effective expansion of those critical infrastructure resource. so the transmission
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:49:51
out ofate this this but I don't think there's going to be a mass change in that and this is kind of like creating interstates and using the two lanes you
have now and then putting in another two lanes with a better infrastructure in it in my in my opinion those new new ones would go parallel in our infrastruc Situation is situational basis
not across the Increase your cost dramatically through transmission I think you know it would be project to project you would you would put that other system in their parallel the new efficient system not not scrap the system you got now of transmission and start anew I think those would be
Speaker 247
1:50:45
parallel systems. I would typically agree we're we're our focus I think generally
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
1:50:51
everybody folks to add more
capacity, better performance with the grid we have uhaker talked about some of the the opportunities they have which you know
Brent Bailey
Unverified
1:51:04
reconductoring some of that may fall in the ram what's called greetinghancing technologies which have born near term costeffective whether it's reconductoring whether it's reevaluating your line performance dynamic line readings or or practices discussed there other alternative transmission technologies to really build capacity in the near term while
still conducting what those long range planning and long range needs are over the next5,10,15, even 20 years as we've heard. thank you Representative Ledermann recognized thank you, Mister Chairman. I'll try
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
1:51:40
Representative Grimmlich really I don't know if it's a question or a statement but maybe you can say you agree or disagree but you know we we are well positioned here and and as was stated we have all of the above types of
energy we've got the cleanest burning coal plant in the nation. we've got two nuclear plants we've got wind we've got solar we've got geothermal we've got all that and as I've said many times we're a state of border cities. Memphis will have demand for power even Saint Louis and Dallas maybe even Oklahoma City or Tulsa I think we could we are a net exporter of power right now and we can export more power so if we if we generate more power and sell that the economics of volume will help
our current ratepayers, I believe so that's just my input and I think anything that we can do to make this more efficient and reduce the cost will help our ratepayers rather than cause them to to cost more money but we do need the input my input here is we need the input from the power providers the companies that produce the power you know how does this affect them the compact what is their input into this process so I think that's something that we need to to find out but thank you for bringing this forward. do you agree?
Speaker 70
1:52:59
good answer seeing any further questions members just want to close. now that everyone's had an opportunity to present we'll take any questions
Speaker 39
1:53:13
but thank y'all for giving this time today you know if you ever get a chance you need to go to SPp or I haven't had an opportunity to to my so yet but you know they'll take you down they'll share you their bottlenecks they have areas of the country where basically people are paying to just sell their electricity
because there's just no access the transmission is so poor you know beckert has an amazing facility in western Arkansas you know, presentativeRose, Richardson, hall Crawford, myself and I'm sure others have plenty of employees who benefit from the jobs that they have there and I want to see them grow and prosper but you know like we want to decrease costs for consumers we want to decrease loss in electricity and we want to prevent those bottlenecks so everyone can have
have those reap the rewards of that. So thank you very much for your time today thank you for having a conversation with transmission
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
1:54:08
with me. thank you Representative Grahamli and thank you to the presenters
it was very informational you guys did a did a tremendous job so thank you there's nothing to do as the SP has already been adopted so thank you for your work on that sham Gramlick. the next item is F and that is just a report that we need to recognize that is the report concerning the progress and activities for a psychiatric collaborative care
model pursuant to statute we just have to recognize that so that is in your packet members any questions on that or concerns on that? OK the last item on our agenda is other business is there any other business that needs to
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:54:50
come before the committee today would would like to bring something so there's an issue in the state about Unitedhealthcare and they're they're in negotiations with some of our folks and some of our state employees are are
going to be impacted by that if insurance commissioner could come down and share that I don't know not not jimmy Harris interims insurance commission
Speaker 254
1:55:36
you had to push your button Saraherris
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:55:44
general counsel Arkansassurance department. jimmie if you could just give us an update on who all is in negotiation with with this group and and let us know the impact regionally and across the
Speaker 253
1:55:58
state Sure currently NEA Baptist and UHC are in negotiations to extend their provider agreement I believe it currently
expires November 15th. we've been in contact with UHC three or four times over the last three weeks asking for updates they've assured us they're continuing good faith negotiations in the meantime AId is reviewing the network adequacy aspects of this what kind of impact it may have you know we we are looking at the distance of the you know acute acute care hospital in
Perigold which is I think 27 miles from Jonesboro and and as you know to meet no work adequacy standards 90% of the population of a county need to be covered within30 miles driving distance between you know u and acute care hospital while the hospital in Pariggooldd will cover most of Craighead County it it will leave out a
large land area on the eastern side it appears for acute care hospitals the network where we not adequate however there could be some issues with specialty providers that have a 10 mile distance we've requested all of the provider identifiers from UHC Friday they responded the same day with thosempPIs and we're reviewing those as of this morning
so the in that scenario that hospital
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:57:50
is merging with NEAystems currently it's it's on a
Speaker 253
1:57:56
different provider agreement and and we'll remain in network the only provider agreement that's being negotiated right now is with NEAbaptist.
I'm confident an agreement will be reached. this is similar to the conway, Baptist Heals or I'm sorry callme regional UHC a negotiations that took place a couple of years ago spills over into the media it's a big deal it affects a lot of people and we
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:58:36
are definitely monitoring that so is UAMS in in the same same situation to with their negotiations I don't know
about UaMS I haven't heard so could we could we get the the I
mean this is our our you know if you could come come down
just to introduce yourself I know you can't speak directly to those negotiations but if you could give us
Speaker 256
1:59:27
an overview of the impacts and possibilities good
Speaker 260
1:59:32
afternoon everyone. Melissa Rust with the University
Speaker 261
1:59:34
of Arkansasystem. please forgive my voice today's the first day to have any voice at all and in several days and so as you I think many of you know the University of Arkansas
system runs and operates a self-insured health plan for all the campuses that are part of the ua system which includes UAMS in the negotiations with United or UHC and UAMs have been resolved so as I understand this issues it's been explained to me Mister Chairman is this is an issue right now with northeast Arkansas hospitalspital and UHC which is separate from the UA but I understand a
question had come up about an individual who who is a UMs employee that resides in in the northeastern Arkansas area of the state and I I'm certainly hopeful obviously that UHC and northeast Arkansas you know hospital are able to resolve you know their contractual issues and be able to renew their contract that's separate and apart from anything that has anything to do with the UFA but if that did not occur, then
we would cover those individuals that are part of UMs and part of the UAMs plan inwork for up to 90 days and then we would have to assess any time period beyond that time but hopefully we hopefully this will be resolved and we won't we won't be addressing that issue thank you
Speaker 263
2:01:13
very much thank you very much I hadn't I hadn't got the Representative Acker you're
Speaker 216
2:01:18
recognized for a question thank you Mr Chair
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
2:01:29
this question may be in two part but directly to Melissa Rust what is the autonomy that the self funded plan has over their vendor is it your understanding that you guys have hired Unitedhealthcare to be your third party administrator is that
Speaker 260
2:01:45
correct? my understanding Representative Acor is is that unit or UHC you know is that they are the third
Speaker 261
2:01:51
party administrator for the self-insured healthal plan that the University of Arkansas system operates
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
2:02:00
but you are the client for Unitedhealthcare is that correct? we have a contract with them yes as self insured do you have the ability to dictate more of these negotiations or have a say
Speaker 261
2:02:16
in that since you are the ultimate payer. frankly am not certain I know the answer to your question to be candid. I'm and not involved in the direct, you know, operation of our self-insured health plans so I I would, Iu I would be hesitant to to try to answer anything more than frankly what I've said thus far
Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
2:02:35
the self-insured entity for United or not for United but for the university healthal systems is the ultimate payer and you have a vendor that is having these disagreements yet you're the one that's ultimately responsible for funding this and facilitating that what is the working relationship with you at Unitedhealthcare have you have you guys turned over operational authority to Unitedhealthcare on the plan or does the plan have operational authority
Speaker 261
2:03:04
once again I believe the plan has operational authority but but as I said that's something I would have to ask and talk to the individuals who actually operate our self insured health plan to be able to tell you that with all any sense of clarity thank you for your question Charles
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
2:03:23
and Baker. any further questions from the committee? Saing none thank you
for your testimony for bringing all that attention to this important issue
Unknown speaker
2:03:35
and seeing no further business we would adjourn.
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Consideration of a Motion to Authorize Chairs to Approve Special Expenses Incurred by the Committees
C. Consideration to Approve the December 16, 2024, Meeting Minutes [Exhibit C]
D. Consideration for Adoption of Interim Study Proposals (ISP) [Exhibits D1-D15]
E. Discussion of Interim Study Proposal 2025-072 by Representative Gramlich – To Adopt the Fair and Efficient Transmission Compact [Exhibit E]
F. Arkansas Department of Human Services, Quarterly Report Concerning the Progress and Activities for a Psychiatric Collaborative Care Model, submitted pursuant to A.C.A. § 23-99-422 (f)(1) - (f)(2) (Act 615 of 2023) [Exhibit F]
G. Other Business
H. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Representative John Maddox
Unverified
Senator Justin Boyd
Unverified
Speaker 24
Speaker 39
Speaker 44
Speaker 48
Representative Jim Wooten
Unverified
Speaker 55
Representative Jack Ladyman
Unverified
Representative Dwight Tosh
Unverified
Speaker 71
Speaker 76
Representative Jon S. Eubanks
Unverified
Speaker 85
Chair
Unverified
Senator Stephanie Flowers
Unverified
Speaker 100
Speaker 107
Speaker 99
Speaker 114
Speaker 118
Senator Missy Irvin
Unverified
Speaker 133
Speaker 134
Speaker 135
Brent Bailey
Unverified
Representative Richard McGrew
Unverified
Speaker 153
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Speaker 66
Speaker 113
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Speaker 184
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Speaker 188
Speaker 119
Speaker 46
Speaker 198
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
Speaker 181
Speaker 144
Speaker 237
Speaker 229
Speaker 247
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Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker
Unverified
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