U.S. grid operators could fast-track their review of power plants in their interconnection queues if the plants will improve grid reliability under a bill introduced Wednesday by a House Republican.
“Our interconnection queue is buckling under its own weight,” Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, said in a press release. “This legislation would give grid operators the authority to identify and expedite the consideration of essential projects that will protect our grid’s reliability and provide the power needed to meet America’s growing demand.”
Under the GRID Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would have 60 days to review proposals from regional transmission organizations and independent system operators for specific projects that would be pushed to the head of interconnection queues.
The RTOs and ISOs would have to show the proposed projects would bolster grid reliability, address power supply shortfalls from retiring power plants or meet growing power demand, according to Balderson.
The bill requires FERC to start a rulemaking process to implement the legislation within 90 days after the bill becomes law, and complete the rulemaking within 180 days.
American Electric Power said it backs the bill. “AEP alone has requests from large customers that would more than double the peak demand we serve on our system today,” the Columbus, Ohio-based utility company said in Balderson’s press release. “Ensuring we are able to reliably serve new and existing customers will require us to rapidly expand our power generation fleet and grid capabilities.”
The Electric Power Supply Association, a trade group for independent power producers, also backs the bill. “EPSA is a staunch supporter of the benefits of competitive markets; however, no economic model or structure can overcome inefficiencies in the interconnection process that can significantly delay critical investment in new dispatchable generation,” Todd Snitchler, EPSA president and CEO, said in a press release. “This legislation appropriately creates a process that recognizes when reliability concerns require that certain investments be prioritized in the interconnection queue.”
At least one grid operator — the PJM Interconnection — is considering proposing to its members a pathway for quickly reviewing interconnection requests from shovel-ready projects. PJM’s Mid-Atlantic and Midwest footprint includes Ohio.
Interconnection queues for projects waiting to connect to the grid have mushroomed across the United States, according to the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
About 2.6 TW of planned power projects were seeking to connect to the grid at the end of last year, up 27% from 2022, the national lab said in a report released in April. Solar, battery and wind projects make up 95% of the capacity in the interconnection queues, according to the report.
