Clean Power Gets Boost in FERC Push to Speed Grid Connections

All four FERC commissioners on Thursday voted in favor of the interconnection queue reforms, which will prioritize projects that are in more advanced stages and evaluate them in clusters. Projects previously were assessed on a first-come, first-served basis.

About 2,000 gigawatts of projects — ranging from renewable-energy and battery installations to natural gas generators — are seeking to connection America’s grids, and it can take five years for plants to get the approvals needed to begin operations, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Willie Phillips said Thursday.

“Technologies move fast — our government rules must keep up,” Phillips said during FERC’s monthly meeting in Washington.

The new rules also penalize developers who withdraw from the queue, a measure meant to help weed out speculative, non-viable projects that can add to the delays. Transmission operators will also need to meet deadlines for studies or face penalties.