The present Act simplifies the planning of grid expansion projects which involve several federal states or cross national boundaries: power line routes are centrally planned and approved by the Federal Network Agency in a process involving early public participation. In addition, the Federal Network Agency is responsible for the statutory planning approval procedure for grid expansion projects, which means it can define the precise route of the power lines. The transfer of the planning responsibility from state to federal level streamlines the process and avoids the fragmentation of tasks. The text consists of 35 articles divided into 6 Parts as follows: General provisions (1); Federal Grid Plan (2); Planning Statement (3); Common provisions (4); Authorities and bodies (5); Penalties and final provisions (6).