The America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide assistance for the development of interconnection-based transmission plans for the Eastern and Western Interconnections, and for ERCOT. The Western Electricity Coordination Council  (WECC) received notification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on December 18, 2009 that it has been awarded $14.5 million in funding from the ARRA to conduct interconnection-wide electric transmission planning studies in the Western Interconnection.