Caitlin Marquis and Doug Pietrucha

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Creating an Interconnection Process for an Affordable, Reliable Grid

Posted by Caitlin Marquis and Doug Pietrucha on Sep 13, 2024 7:45:00 AM

Blog InterconnectionWeek Illuminating the Need for Reform

One of the biggest challenges facing our nation’s economic growth – and one of the largest threats to consumer energy costs and the reliability of our electricity system – is the ability to quickly connect new, large-scale energy resources to the transmission grid.

There’s now roughly 2,600 GW worth of energy sources stuck waiting in line to connect to the power grid (more than double the capacity of the current electricity system), held back by an antiquated way of studying and approving transmission grid upgrades. This process, known as ‘generator interconnection,’ was designed for an increasingly bygone era. In an era of more dynamic, more cost-effective, more distributed advanced energy resources, grid operators and electric utilities need a new approach for bringing new energy resources online. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Transmission

New Report Shows Most RTOs Struggling with Generator Interconnection

Posted by Caitlin Marquis and Doug Pietrucha on Mar 7, 2024 10:30:00 AM

Will FERC Order 2023 be Enough to Fix Interconnection

Currently, over two million megawatts of generator and storage projects are actively seeking to connect to the U.S. transmission grid. The process to connect these proposed projects to the grid so they can start generating electricity—called “generator interconnection”—is outdated, slow, unpredictable, and sorely in need of reform. The 2024 Advanced Energy United Generator Interconnection Scorecard is the first-ever attempt to evaluate each of the seven regional transmission system operators on their generator interconnection processes. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets, Transmission

The Interconnection Process Explained

Posted by Caitlin Marquis and Doug Pietrucha on Oct 10, 2023 10:30:00 AM

Blog Graphic New Guide Illustrates Challenges in Interconnection QueueAcross the country, over 2,000 gigawatts of resources representing 10,000 projects are waiting for the green light to connect to the grid so they can commence construction and start operating—mostly clean resources like wind, solar, battery storage, and hybrid renewable-plus- storage projects. These projects are stuck in interconnection queues, undergoing an evaluation of reliability impacts and transmission system upgrades that must be made before they can start to deliver electricity to the grid.

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Topics: Wholesale Markets

Unpacking FERC Order No. 2023’s Implications for Interconnection Reform

Posted by Caitlin Marquis and Doug Pietrucha on Sep 13, 2023 3:00:00 PM

An Important Step Toward Fixing the Broken Interconnection ProcessThis is a brief summary of the ins and outs of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 2023, issued on July 27, 2023. For more, we encourage you to download our recently released FERC Order 2023 Toolkit or view our webinar recording, “FERC Interconnection Ruling: The First Domino in Transmission Reform,” which discussed how FERC Order 2023 will affect interconnection queues across the country, including the impact on energy customers, developers, and other stakeholders.

Across the country, more than 2 GW of projects—mostly solar, wind, storage, and hybrid projects—sit in interconnection queues waiting to connect to the transmission grid. The process governing these queues is overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and on July 27, 2023, the Commission took an important step toward un-jamming clogged queues when it unanimously voted to finalize Order No. 2023, a landmark rule directing interconnection reforms. While much work lies ahead to successfully implement the reforms approved by FERC, and to pursue further reform needs not addressed by Order No. 2023, the rule is likely to result in important incremental improvements to the badly broken interconnection process. 

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Topics: Wholesale Markets

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