Feds vote to reduce bottlenecks in connecting new power sources to the energy grid

Introduction

Federal regulators voted unanimously on Thursday to approve rules that aim to speed up the process of connecting new power sources to the energy grid. The rules could start to unclog a massive bottleneck that stands in the way of getting clean energy sources online to slow global warming, even if they aren’t a panacea.

To connect a new power source, like a new wind or solar farm, to the electric grid, energy generators have to submit an interconnection application to a transmission operator, which enters them into a queue. Then the grid operator has to complete a series of studies to measure what equipment and upgrades will be necessary and how much the whole process will cost.

The entire electric grid in the U.S. has installed capacity of 1,250 gigawatts. There are currently 2,020 gigawatts of capacity in the interconnection queue lines around the country, according to a report published in April by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That includes 1,350 gigawatts of power capacity — mostly clean — looking to be constructed and connected to the grid. The rest, 670 gigawatts, is for storage.

As all this power generation sits waiting in queues, the power grid is maxed out. Last week, for example, the regional transmission organization that coordinates wholesale electricity movement in 13 states and the District of Columbia, PJM, issued an alert that the latest heatwave may drive electricity demand to the point that would require emergency operations. (In fact, it didn’t, and PJM canceled its alert at 5pm ET on Friday.)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity, on Thursday voted to approve new rules to streamline and speed up the interconnection process.

Broadly speaking, the new rules include the following changes:

1. First-ready, first-served cluster process: Transmission providers will be able to conduct larger, regional interconnection studies for clusters of power generation requests. Power generators will have to meet certain requirements to keep their place in the queue, including a financial deposit.
2. Deadlines and penalties for transmission providers: Transmission providers will have strict deadlines to respond to power generators waiting in the queue, and will face penalties if they miss those deadlines.
3. Generators can co-locate and share an interconnection request: The new rule requires transmission providers to allow co-located projects to submit one interconnection request. Power generators will be able to add a source of power to a single interconnection request. The rule also requires transmission providers to consider alternative transmission technologies.

This rule for co-locating is specifically going to help projects that have power generation and battery storage at the same spot. If a power generator wants to add a battery storage component to a project that is already in the queue, this will not qualify as a material modification that would require new studies and more delays.

For the United States to switch from generating electricity primarily from fossil fuels to renewable sources, the system of wires that carry electricity from where it is generated to where it is used needs to be expanded. The most concentrated sources of renewable power are often far from cities and industrial areas.

The process of building transmission lines has been slow and burdensome, leading to a backlog of clean energy projects waiting to connect to the grid. The new rules approved by FERC aim to address this issue and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

Energy industry experts generally see the approval of the new rules as a positive first step. However, they also emphasize the need for further improvements, such as long-term transmission planning and reforming the method of paying for transmission upgrades.

The rules are seen as an incremental step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to address the fundamental constraints and underinvestment in transmission infrastructure.