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Advanced Energy United welcomes progress on new FERC nominations

Posted by Adam Winer on Feb 29, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, national business association Advanced Energy United applauded President Biden’s nomination of three new Commissioners to fill vacant and soon-to-be vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  

“A full complement of Commissioners is critical to ensure robust debate and efficient progress on the important issues that FERC will be asked to weigh in on in the coming months and years, from interconnection reform to transmission planning to market rule changes in light of the energy transition,” said Caitlin Marquis, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United. “We encourage the Senate to move forward quickly with the appointment process and look forward to working with a fully staffed Commission under the leadership of Chair Willie Phillips.”

 Background resources:  

Click here to learn more about Advanced Energy United’s work expanding wholesale markets for advanced energy, and engaging with FERC.

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Topics: Press Releases, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

Advanced Energy United releases generator interconnection report card for U.S. electric grid managers

Posted by Adam Winer on Feb 26, 2024

This first-ever comparative evaluation of generator interconnection shows electricity system operators are struggling to connect generating resources to the U.S. grid, threatening power reliability and clean energy goals

WASHINGTON, DC – A new, first-of-its-kind scorecard from national business association Advanced Energy United evaluates and grades the seven U.S. regional transmission organizations on their generator interconnection processes. The scorecard, authored by Grid Strategies and The Brattle Group, shows that interconnection is not going smoothly in any region of the country, with some regions facing serious deficiencies.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Caitlin Marquis, FERC, Transmission

RTO Insider: Biden Drops ‘Acting’ from Phillips’ Title; Clements to Leave at End of Term

Posted by James Downing on Feb 11, 2024

RTO Insider  reports on the official naming of Willie Phillips as FERC Chair The article quotes United's Caitlin Marquis, who welcomed the news and stated that Advanced Energy United hopes to see the nomination of new FERC commissioners who share interest in tackling the challenges faced by the energy sector.
 

President Joe Biden on Friday removed “acting” before FERC Chair Willie Phillips’ title, as Commissioner Allison Clements announced she would not seek a second term.

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Topics: United In The News, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

Advanced Energy United congratulates Willie Phillips for being named FERC Chair

Posted by Adam Winer on Feb 9, 2024

United calls on Biden Administration to nominate additional candidates to fill out commissioners 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, national business group Advanced Energy United congratulated Willie Phillips on his elevation to Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), andurged expedient nomination of additional Commissioners to restore a full complement to FERC. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

Utility Dive: House Democratic Bill Aims to Spur Interregional, Offshore Transmission

Posted by Ethan Howland on Dec 14, 2023

Utility Dive reports on the Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act, a bill introduced to spur transmission development, quoting United's Mike Haugh on how the bill's passage would improve our transmission system and push the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) to take action on its pending transmission planning and cost allocation rulemaking.
 

House Democrats on Tuesday introduced a bill to spur transmission development, with a focus on interregional and offshore wind lines.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Sean Casten, D-Ill., and Mike Levin, D-Cal., plus 74 co-sponsors, directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue rules to improve interregional transmission planning; provides a 30% transmission investment tax credit; incentivizes renewable energy development in priority areas on federal land; and expands consultation with disadvantaged groups and communities in the permitting process.

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Topics: United In The News, FERC, Mike Haugh

Canary Media: FERC takes a big step to get more clean energy on the US grid

Posted by Jeff St. John on Jul 31, 2023

Canary Media examines the newest approval of reforms by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to improve the efficiency of interconnection projects, quoting Caitlin Marquis on the anticipated positive and negative impacts of the commission's ruling.

The U.S. has far more clean energy projects seeking to connect to the grid than utilities and grid operators can handle. It’s a crisis that has been decades in the making, but one that must be resolved in the next few years if the country is to meet its climate goals.

Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a sweeping set of reforms to address one facet of that crisis: the need to streamline and modernize the rules and processes that govern how power projects interconnect to the nation’s transmission grids.

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Topics: United In The News, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

Energy Wire: FERC approves ‘historic’ rule to address renewables backlog

Posted by Miranda Willson on Jul 28, 2023

Energy Wire reports on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)'s approval of a major rule in July 2023 aimed at improving the interconnection process. In the article, Caitlin Marquis is quoted, expressing overall support for the ruling and FERC's efforts to incorporate feedback from the developer community.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a major new rule Thursday to accelerate the connection of energy projects to the power grid, a move that could ease widespread delays stifling renewable energy.

The final rule aims to make the grid connection process more efficient at a time of unprecedented growth in clean energy development nationwide.

Calling the decision “historic,” FERC acting Chair Willie Phillips said changes in the rule will make the electric system more reliable by helping new energy projects come online faster. All four FERC commissioners voted for the plan.

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Topics: United In The News, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

FERC Final Interconnection Ruling a First Step Toward Addressing Queue Backlogs

Posted by Adam Winer on Jul 27, 2023

FERC directs Transmission Providers to implement cluster studies, among other reforms

WASHINGTON, DC, July 27, 2023- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted today to finalize rules regarding how interconnection queues across the nation should be governed. The ruling establishes requirements that must be met by all public utility transmission providers, such asRegional Transmission Operators (RTOs), Independent System Operators (ISOs), and utilities in non-RTO/ISO regions. The long-awaited final rule follows up on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Commission last July, in which the Commission recognized that interconnection backlogs threaten reliability and just and reasonable rates. Requirements in the final order include a transition to cluster studies, replacement of the “reasonable efforts standard” with study deadlines and penalties for transmission providers, and provisions to better accommodate new technologies such as storage and hybrid resources and to ensure consideration of grid-enhancing technologies.  

“Advanced Energy United and our members applaud the Commission for identifying the urgent need for interconnection reform and for working diligently to put forward a final Order that will start to improve the broken interconnection process,” said Caitlin Marquis, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United. “In light of the scope of the interconnection challenge, we also appreciate Acting Chair Phillips’s recognition that there is ‘so much more to do,’ and hope to see this momentum maintained with follow-up efforts by the Commission to address additional interconnection reform needs." 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

PV Magazine: Clearway, Enel executives propose three ways to fix utility-scale interconnection

Posted by William Driscoll on May 30, 2023

PV Magazine highlights major takeaways from United's May 2023 webinar on interconnection processes and potential solutions, quoting Caitlin Marquis on the need for significant reform to make the interconnection transition more efficient.

The “efficient process solution” to interconnecting large-scale renewables and storage “is a combination of the ‘connect and manage’ interconnection approach with comprehensive regional transmission planning,” said Hannah Muller, head of markets and policy at Clearway Energy Group, on a webinar hosted by Advanced Energy United.

Greg Geller, vice president and head of regulatory affairs for Enel North America, said on the webinar that he also favors both approaches, and explained their advantages.

Advanced Energy United presented the webinar as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is completing work on a rule aiming to increase the speed and reduce the costs of interconnecting utility-scale renewable and storage projects. Muller and Geller focused their recommendations on further improvements that could be instituted after FERC issues its rule.

Explaining the “connect and manage” approach, Geller said “assume you have a 200 MW project.” Some transmission system operators, he said, study projects based on how they will be dispatched “in real time. And if in real time that project would cause a constraint” if 200 MW were dispatched, a “connect and manage” approach would instead dispatch 100 MW for the time period needed.

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Topics: United In The News, Caitlin Marquis, FERC

Advanced Energy United Congratulates Willie Phillips on Appointment to Acting Chair of FERC

Posted by Adam Winer on Jan 3, 2023

Urges expedient nomination of a fifth Commissioner to restore a full complement to FERC

WASHINGTON, January 3, 2023 – Today, national business group Advanced Energy United thanked outgoing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chair Richard Glick for his productive and impactful tenure, congratulated Commissioner Willie Phillips on his appointment as Acting Chair of the Commission, and urged expedient nomination of a fifth Commissioner to restore a full complement to FERC.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Caitlin Marquis, FERC