Post: FERC aims to clear backlog of US generation and storage projects

FERC aims to clear backlog of US generation and storage projects

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a sweeping final rule aimed at easing a nationwide backlog of clean energy and storage resources seeking to connect to the power grid. FERC said that approach will be more efficient than the current “first-come, first-served” process.

At the end of 2022, more than 2,000GW of generation and storage was waiting in interconnection queues but the draft final rule (RM22-14), which was approved on July 27, aims to ensure that the power generation projects closest to commercial operation are prioritized ahead of more speculative projects.

The rule, named Order 2023, raises financial commitments for interconnection customers seeking to enter and stay in the queue. Interconnection customers must pay increased deposits, meet more stringent site control requirements, and pay commercial readiness deposits. In addition, project developers will face penalties if they withdraw their requests.

The order is part of a broader effort to update FERC’s policies to reflect a shifting resource mix increasingly made up of intermittent renewable resources and energy storage. To support hybrid resources such as a solar power-plus-energy storage facility, the change requires transmission providers to allow more than one generating facility to co-locate on a shared site and share a single interconnection request.

FERC Chairman Willie Phillips said:

“This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources are able to interconnect to the transmission system in a reliable, efficient, transparent and timely manner”.

GridBeyond chief product officer and president for North America Sean McEvoy said:

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