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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.

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.

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." 

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.

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.

S&P Global discussed what a rise in clean energy development means for US electric transmission capacity, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis on what final rules FERC will need to issue for developers. Read snippets below and the full article here.

The U.S. Senate-passed Inflation Reduction Act is projected to unleash a new wave of clean energy development that gets the nation close to achieving its 2030 climate goals. The measure will also raise the stakes for ongoing policy efforts to expand the U.S. electric transmission system and expedite environmental reviews, according to industry experts.

Maintaining steady leadership at FERC is important to helping guide nation through energy transition

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2022 – Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) applauded the announcement from President Joe Biden that he is renominating Chair Richard Glick to a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). 

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21, 2022 – Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) reacted to the announcement by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it will be reforming regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements.

Jeff Dennis, Managing Director and General Counsel at AEE, released the following statement on the benefits of the FERC announcement:

“Today’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is an important next step in building the resilient transmission grid the nation needs to meet its economic and clean energy goals and reap the benefits of the rapid expansion of advanced energy technologies. The Commission’s proposals rightly put focus on the need for comprehensive long-term transmission planning that meets the transmission needs of customers and transparently considers the benefits transmission investments can provide to customers over multiple decades.