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Chicago Tribune: Wind and Solar in Limbo - Long Waitlists to Get on the Grid are a ‘Leading Barrier’

Posted by Nara Schoenberg on Apr 21, 2024

The Chicago Tribune reports on PJM Interconnection's low grade in the recently released Advanced Energy United Generator Interconnection Scorecard and the direct impacts of the entity's slow grid connection process.

Ninety miles west of Chicago, the corn and soybean fields stretch to the sky, and dreams of the clean energy future dangle — just out of reach. To the east of Route 52, there’s the first phase of the 9,500-acre Steward Creek solar farm, in the works since 2019. To the west, there’s South Dixon Solar, which once hoped to begin construction on 3,800 acres in 2022.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News

Utility Dive: NYISO Launches First-In-Nation DER Integration Program in Move toward FERC Order 2222 Compliance

Posted by Robert Walton on Apr 19, 2024

Utility Dive reports on the New York Independent System Operator's newly launched program to integrate aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) into wholesale markets. The article quotes Advanced Energy United on its critique of the program's 10 kW limit that restricts access for many clean energy resources.

“FERC’s acceptance of our landmark model is a huge win for grid reliability and energy consumers in New York,” NYISO President and CEO Rich Dewey said in a Wednesday statement.

In its application to revise its market rules to allow DER aggregation, NYISO said the 10 kW threshold “balances the need for efficient administration” of wholesale markets alongside the “value that small facilities can reliably provide the bulk power system.”

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, FERC

Clean Energy Business Representatives Applaud Proposal from West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative

Posted by Caroline Grace on Apr 10, 2024

Western Regional Electricity Market Progress Continues to be Made 

Today, the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative Launch Committee released a straw proposal that outlines a plan to establish an independent entity to oversee Western markets, building on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) and extended day-ahead market (EDAM). Clean energy industry representatives from Advanced Energy United, Pattern Energy, and Enel North America applauded the proposal, which will help advance efforts to build a regional transmission organization (RTO) in the West. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Leah Rubin Shen, Western RTO, California

Two New Entities Commit to CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market

Posted by Caroline Grace on Mar 21, 2024

New market approval continues forward momentum for RTO development in the West

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, national business association Advanced Energy United applauded the commitment of Portland General Electric and Idaho Power to join the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) extended day-ahead market (EDAM), an electricity market poised to deliver enhanced reliability, economic, and environmental benefits to utilities and communities through the West when it begins in 2026.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Leah Rubin Shen, Western RTO, California

Advanced Energy United Urges Senate to Ensure Full Contingent at FERC

Posted by Adam Winer on Mar 20, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC – National business association Advanced Energy United released the following statement of support prior to the commencement of Confirmation Hearings for nominees David Rosner, Judy Chang, and Lindsay See to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) before the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

"FERC plays an essential role ensuring that the U.S. has an affordable and reliable energy system, which is especially critical as we swiftly transition toward a 100 percent advanced energy economy,” said Caitlin Marquis, Managing Director at Advanced Energy United. "FERC is most capable of deliberating on the vital and complex issues before it when it has a full contingent of Commissioners. As such, we welcome the work of this committee and the Senate as a whole to swiftly consider these nominations from President Biden."

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

NJ Spotlight News: Interconnection Issues at PJM Threaten Reliability and Clean-Energy Goals, Warns New Study

Posted by Tom Johnson on Feb 27, 2024

NJ Spotlight News reports on a recently released Generation Interconnection Scorecard, authored by Grid Strategies and the Brattle Group and released by Advanced Energy United, that ranks PJM the lowest amongst the seven regional grids. United's Jon Gordon and Kristina Persaud spoke to the massive backlog PJM faces and lack of planning for such scenarios.
 

PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest electrical power grid operator, is struggling to connect new electricity projects to its system, threatening power reliability and clean-energy goals, according to a study.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, New Jersey, Jon Gordon, Kristina Persaud

RTO Insider: Advanced Energy United Grades ISO/RTO Queues as Order 2023 is Implemented

Posted by James Downing on Feb 26, 2024

RTO Insider reports on United's recently released Generation Interconnection Scorecard, authored by Grid Strategies and the Brattle Group, that evaluates and grades the seven regional transmission organizations. United's Caitlin Marquis spoke to the challenges presented by flawed interconnection systems and the importance of urgent improvements.
 

Advanced Energy United has released a scorecard that ranks the seven domestic ISO/RTOs on their generator interconnection processes, finding room for improvement in every one. 

Brattle Group and Grid Strategies prepared the Generator Interconnection Scorecard for United, as they did for a similar project on transmission planning last year. (See Transmission Report Card Grades MISO “B,” Southeast “F”.) 

The scorecard, released Feb. 26, comes after FERC issued Order 2023 and is meant to help track how those and other reforms are implemented, Grid Strategies President and report co-author Rob Gramlich said in an interview. (See FERC Updates Interconnection Queue Process with Order 2023.) 

“We’re hopeful that those reforms happen and further reforms get done,” Gramlich said. “And we’re hopeful that in a year or two, if and when we do this again, all of the grades will improve. But the idea was just to kind of take a snapshot at this time.” 

The flawed interconnection processes have more than 2 million MW of renewable power and storage waiting to connect to the grid, said Advanced Energy United Managing Director Caitlin Marquis. 

“This scorecard confirms what we know about the interconnection process, that grid managers have moved too slowly to adapt to changing market conditions, allowing the process of connecting new electricity to the transmission grid to become dysfunctional,” Marquis said. “Without urgent improvement, the U.S. grid may struggle to keep up with growing energy demands, threatening our ability to keep the lights on and reach our climate goals. Strong implementation of FERC’s recent reforms will be an important first step toward improving the interconnection process, and it’s also clear that additional reforms will be needed.”  

None of the ISO/RTOs managed to get an A, but both CAISO and ERCOT got Bs, with Gramlich saying one reason they did better was that they’ve proactively planned their transmission systems to add new resources. 

“That has been a little bit less of a case recently in ERCOT,” Gramlich said. “And so ERCOT used to be great from a developer perspective, but they got marked down a little bit because of a lack of transmission. Because you can connect, but there’s a lot of congestion once you connect. California has always done proactive transmission planning pretty consistently … so the grid has been prepared in advance to accommodate more generation.” 

Both also scored highly on giving developers a sense of certainty, with ERCOT assigning limited costs to interconnection customers and CAISO being credited with good transparency. 

No other market scored above a C- on United's scorecard, which highlights the need for changes to meet rising demand from new large loads, electrification, and state policies and customer demand driving more renewables onto the grid. 

“Currently, most of the regions are undergoing significant efforts to reform their interconnection practices and policies in response to stakeholder concerns and FERC Order No. 2023,” the report said. “The scorecard is not an assessment of those ongoing or recently adopted reforms that have not yet impacted the generator interconnection processes.”  

The growth of wind, utility-scale solar and storage has resulted in interconnection projects popping up everywhere, Gramlich said.

The scorecard measures six categories, the first of which is interconnection process and results, which measures an interconnection’s success rate, cost reasonableness and uncertainty. It also grades prequeue information, queue design, assumptions and criteria, availability of interconnection alternatives, and whether transmission planning takes future generation needs into account. 

That final category is the only one where the graders looked at rules now in place, which have not impacted the queues yet.  

Read the full article here. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Caitlin Marquis

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

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: 9 US Power Sector Trends to Watch in 2024


Utility Dive  highlights some of the major developments and trends expected in nine critical areas of the energy transition this year, including the expansion of virtual power plants (VPPs). The article quotes United's Ryan Katofsky, who speaks to the increasing role VPPs can play in ensuring grid reliability and addressing the general need for more flexibility on the demand side.
 

The U.S. clean energy transition is expected to accelerate this year, buoyed by recent policy and other actions, but transmission and financing are among its challenges. The following is a snapshot of some of the major developments and trends expected in nine critical areas of the energy transition this year...

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Ryan Katofsky