Notice of Missouri Interstate Gas, LLC's 2/25/03 filing of revised tariff sheets to FERC Gas Tariff, Original Volume 1 under RP03-17.

March 6, 2003 Via Electronic Filing Ms. Magalie Roman Salas, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of the Secretary 888 First Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20426 Re: Comments of American Superconductor in Docket No. PL03-1-000. Dear Ms. Salas: Attached are the Comments of American Superconductor on Proposed Policy Statement for filing in Docket No. PL03-1-000. Please contact me if you have any questions in regard to this filing. Sincerely, James W. Brew Brickfield, Burchette, Ritts & Stone, P.C. 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Eighth Floor, West Tower Washington, D.C. 20007 Enclosure cc: Service List UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Proposed Pricing Policy for Efficient ) Operation and Expansion of ) Docket No. PL03-1-000 Transmission Grid ) COMMENTS OF AMERICAN SUPERCONDUCTOR ON PROPOSED POLICY STATEMENT James W. Brew Brickfield, Burchette, Ritts & Stone, P.C. 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Eighth Floor, West Tower Washington, D.C. 20007 Attorneys for American Superconductor -2- March 6, 2003 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Proposed Pricing Policy for Efficient ) Operation and Expansion of ) Docket No. PL03-1-000 Transmission Grid ) COMMENTS OF AMERICAN SUPERCONDUCTOR ON PROPOSED POLICY STATEMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Commission's proposed policy statement represents a watershed development in the evolution of its transmission policies. After ten years of focusing on institutional and governance issues to support nondiscriminatory policies, this policy statement shifts the focus toward encouraging actual investment in the nations overtaxed and inadequate transmission infrastructure. The clear consensus of power industry stakeholders is that making overdue investment in the power grid must be the industry's first and immediate priority. The policy statement is a timely and necessary step by the Commission toward the achievement of that goal. The policy statement seeks to advance three related but distinct objectives: the development of a stand-alone transmission sector, a shift toward regional planning, and outright investment in hard physical infrastructure. Certainly, independence of transmission planning and decision-making from market participants is important. -3- Similarly, a more regional perspective, to achieve efficiency and assure impartiality in grid design and operation, is required. Hard physical infrastructure, however, is both a threshold requirement and the ultimate guarantor that reliable and economic power flows can be accommodated. Moreover, given the rising hostility toward grid expansion by construction of conventional overhead power lines, the need to explore new transmission technologies is more urgent than ever. For this reason, the Commission's statements highlighting the potential ...