Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements

Order 2023 comprehensively reformed the generator interconnection queue process to address the unprecedented backlog of projects waiting to connect to the transmission grid, driven largely by the surge in renewable energy and energy storage development. FERC replaced the inefficient sequential study process with a cluster-based, first-ready-first-served approach that processes groups of interconnection requests together rather than one at a time. The order established new financial deposit and project milestone requirements to reduce speculative queue entries that had been clogging the process. It also required transmission providers to conduct more timely and transparent studies and to expedite the construction of network upgrades needed for multiple projects at once, fundamentally modernizing the path for new generators to reach the grid.