Another U.S. regional grid operator is proposing a process to fast-track connection agreements for power plants, a process aimed at heading off a looming shortage of generating capacity by the end of the decade. Southwest Power Pool, which spans the wind-soaked corridor from Texas to the Canadian border, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week to approve its Expedited Resource Adequacy Study process to take effect in late July.

Little Rock, Arkansas-based SPP is the latest grid operator to accelerate power plant additions
approved a request from PJM Interconnection to do the same. More recently, FERC earlier this year 
rejected a proposal from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which plans to re-file a revised version next month.
 
The rationale for the requests by regional transmission operators is largely the same: legacy fossil fuel power plants are being shuttered, and new renewable and natural gas-fired replacements are stuck in a traffic jam of projects waiting on studies for approval to plug into the bulk power grid. The process "offers utilities who are responsible for keeping the lights on a clearly defined and impactful opportunity to address real and immediate needs,” SPP CEO Lanny Nickell said in a statement before the filing at FERC. “It's not a replacement for broader interconnection reforms.”

In the meantime, utilities are signaling the need for more power to accommodate large new sources of demand, including new manufacturing, cryptocurrency mining operations and data centers. SPP officials were blunt in their request, saying its 14-state footprint is “on the precipice of a resource adequacy crisis.” SPP cited a study showing that by 2027 available generating capacity is projected to dip below the level required to maintain a reserve margin established by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) to guard against unexpected spikes in demand and power plant failures. SPP projects it will have insufficient capacity to meet peak demand in 2030, instead facing a 17-gigawatt shortfall.

Like in other regions, SPP has a long list of power projects in the interconnection queue. And like peers PJM and MISO, the Great Plains grid operator is making changes to more quickly conduct engineering studies to get new wind, solar, batteries and gas plants online. But SPP said even if all of the projects that have entered the study phase of the queue come online by 2030, it won't be enough. Also, projects awaiting connection aren't necessarily in the right spot or the appropriate technology to meet the needs 
of utilities.

“The generator interconnection process as it exists today is simply not designed to solve these critical resource adequacy issues in the short term,” SPP said in its filing to FERC. The SPP proposal, like MISO's, is dubbed the Expedited Resource Adequacy Study process. It is billed as a one-time, short
term fix to meet the need for more generating capacity over the next five years. The process would be geared to “shovel-ready” projects that would be required to meet a strict list of qualifications to be 
eligible for expedited treatment, SPP said. Projects would be required to come online within five years.

SPP said the process would rely on utilities to verify which projects, including type and location, are needed for reliability. State regulators would have a significant role in the process since nearly all utilities in the region are vertically integrated, meaning they own electric generation.

Unlike MISO's proposal, which was rejected in large part because it was overly broad, SPP said its proposal is narrowly tailored to plug a projected gap in capacity necessary to meet consumer demand.

Lisa Barrett, director at clean energy advocacy group Advanced Energy United, said the SPP proposal is likewise flawed and gives utilities too much leeway to decide which new projects to pursue. Focusing on work already underway to resolve the interconnection backlog would be a better answer, she said.

"Fast-tracking projects might sound good, but it's not a replacement for a sound and reliable process of getting projects through the queue and built more quickly," Barrett said.