The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) has issued a proposed rule focused on expediting the current process for connecting new electricity generation facilities to the grid.
The notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) aims to address significant current backlogs in the interconnection queues by improving interconnection procedures, providing greater certainty and preventing undue discrimination against new generation.
Ferc said that at the end of 2021, there were more than 1400GW of generation and storage waiting in interconnection queues throughout the country.
Projects now face an average timeline of more than three years to get connected to the grid, it said.
The NOPR proposes reforms to ensure that interconnection customers can access the grid in a reliable, efficient, transparent and timely manner, Ferc added.
Ferc chairman Rich Glick said: “Today’s unanimous action addresses the urgent need to update, expedite and streamline our processes to interconnect new resources to the grid.
“We are witnessing unprecedent demand for new resources seeking to interconnect to the transmission grid, and queue delays are hindering customers’ access to new, low-cost generation.”
The proposed rule includes several key areas of reforms.
Implement a first-ready, first-served cluster study process whereby transmission providers would conduct larger interconnection studies encompassing numerous proposed generating facilities, rather than separate studies for each individual generating facility.
This approach would increase the efficiency of the interconnection process and help minimise delays, Ferc said.
To ensure that ready projects can proceed through the queue in a timely manner, transmission providers also would impose additional financial commitments and readiness requirements on interconnection customers, it added.
The NOPR also proposes to impose firm deadlines and establish penalties if transmission providers fail to complete interconnection studies on time, except in instances where force majeure is applicable.
It also proposes a more detailed affected systems study process, including a specific modelling standard and pro forma affected system agreements.
NOPR would also bring reforms to administratively simplify the process of studying interconnection requests that are all related to the same state-authorised or mandated resource solicitation.
Transmission providers would also be required to allow more than one resource to co-locate on a shared site behind a single point of interconnection and share a single interconnection request.
This would create a minimum standard that would remove barriers for co-located resources by creating a more efficient standardised procedure for these types of configurations, Ferc said.
The NOPR also proposes to allow interconnection customers to add a generating facility to an existing interconnection request under certain circumstances without automatically losing their position in the queue.
NOPR would also require transmission providers to consider alternative transmission solutions if requested by the interconnection customer.
Finally, the NOPR proposes certain modelling and performance requirements for non-synchronous generating facilities to address the unique characteristics of the changing resource mix..
Comments are due 100 days after publication of the NOPR in the Federal Register, Ferc said.