Since 2004, the US solar industry has grown from 58 to over 121 GW of total installed capacity. Growth is increasing rapidly, with thousands of solar and other renewable energy projects in the planning stages. But too many of these projects are stalled by long interconnection queues, where they face an average timeline of three+ years to get connected to the grid. Because of these delays, about 75% of projects drop out before completing the interconnection process.
This unacceptable interconnection situation has been recognized for some time as a significant barrier to deploying renewable energy projects. Until now, efforts to address the issue were regional and uncoordinated. That’s set to change with the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on June 16. FERC’s proposed reforms are intended to address interconnection queue backlogs, improve certainty, and prevent undue discrimination against new technologies.
